The Catholic Spirit - November 19, 2020

November 19, 2020 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

How did this happen?

A Catholic Spirit Special Report on the Vatican’s “McCarrick Report,” which explores how the former cardinal could rise through Church ranks without serious investigation of allegations of sexual misconduct, grooming and abuse.

— Pages 9-11

thecatholicspirit.com

‘Going in where few will tread’

Election results As ballot recounts continue, media networks call presidential election for Democrat Joe Biden, a Catholic.

Pro-life leaders express concerns about his abortion stance.

— Page 7

Hope in action Catholic Charities marks 150 years of serving people in the Twin Cities, celebrating its many ministries and continuing expansion.

— Pages 12-13

‘On Eagle’s Wings’ Father Michael Joncas “honored and humbled” to hear reference to his popular hymn by Joe Biden in victory speech.

— Page 14

Serving Black Catholics

As COVID cases increase, so does need for Anointing Corps ministry DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

St. Peter Claver in St. Paul has long been a faith home for African American Catholics while also welcoming parishioner diversity.

— Page 15

Unofficially 100 Catholic Irishman with rural roots celebrates reaching the century mark­­ — 10 years early.

— Page 17

Father Andrew Jaspers stands outside the room of a COVID-19 patient at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis Nov. 9. He anointed the patient as part of his ministry in the Anointing Corps for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit

O

f all the items Father Paul Hedman expected to need as a priest, “COVID shoes” wasn’t on the list. But now the associate pastor of St. Peter in Forest Lake, who was ordained in May, keeps wornout dress shoes in a bag in the trunk of his car, ready for a quick change if he’s called to administer the sacrament of anointing of the sick to someone gravely ill with COVID-19.

Those shoes are part of the personal protective equipment Father Hedman is responsible for as a member of the Anointing Corps in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Inspired by a similar group in the Archdiocese of Chicago, Bishop Andrew Cozzens in April organized the team of more than a dozen priests trained in the necessary safety precautions to offer the final sacrament to those dying in the pandemic.

In the months since, they’ve anointed more than 500 people with COVID-19.

Most of the patients were near death.

After a lull in calls this summer, with several days passing between requests, the team is now responding to multiple calls per day, as the number of COVID-19 cases sharply rises.

Father Matt Shireman, 34, admits he was a little afraid for his own health when he joined the corps in its early days. His decision also worried some friends and family, he noted, but he

felt it was the right thing to do. He is young, healthy and, as a parochial vicar at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings, without the heftier responsibilities of a pastor. As he became accustomed to the precautions, his fear of contracting the virus has diminished, and he’s seen the beauty in providing the sacrament for people often dying in isolation. He’s done about 40 COVID-19 anointings, he said.

“I would want to receive those last rites close to my death, so to be able to offer it to those who are especially facing this very difficult illness … it seemed like something that I could say yes to,” he said.

Medical professionals train priests in the corps — whose membership and size has fluctuated over the months as priests have joined and left, due to other responsibilities. They learn to properly don and doff N95 masks, goggles, gowns and gloves, and prepare the elements of the sacrament, including the Oil of the Sick, that they bring with them into the patient’s room. Most of the anointings have taken place in hospitals, nursing homes or assisted living facilities, with very few in private homes.

When priests first volunteered for the Anointing Corps, experts were still unclear about how contagious COVID-19 was, and what conditions aided its spread. The level of training the men received, however, gave Father Andrew Jaspers, a corps member and chaplain at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, “100% confidence” from

TEXT SUPPORT When the Anointing Corps was created, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis added an option for people to receive text notifications so they could pray when a priest was dispatched for a COVID-19-related anointing. The alerts ask people to pray one Our Father for the person in danger of death, one Hail Mary for the person’s family and friends, and one Glory Be for protection for the priest anointing and the person’s medical team. The texts also invoke St. Roch, a 14th century French-Italian pilgrim traditionally asked to intercede in times of plague. About 2,240 people have signed up.

“It’s really beautiful,” said Father Paul Hedman, a corps member. “It really shows the unity of the Church, that we’re all praying for each other, that we’re all in this together.” To sign up to receive the texts, text “archspm-anointing” to 55321.

the start that they could administer the sacrament safely.

“We were under the impression that we were at serious risk of our health — and possibly life — if we’re going into contact with people who were infected,” Father Jaspers said. “Now, it’s become quite routine. I’ll see two or three people a day. … It’s not something that is scary anymore.”

Father Jaspers, 42, was appointed HCMC chaplain in March, and because PLEASE TURN TO CORPS ON PAGE 5

2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

PAGETWO NEWS notes

2

The number of opportunities Catholics have to join Zoom meetings to learn about the work of the Archdiocesan Care for Creation Team formed earlier this year. The meetings are 1 p.m. Dec. 9 and 7 p.m. Dec. 10. To register, contact creation@archspm.org.

$7,360

The average amount offered this fall to all Catholic K-12 schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis from a special COVID-19 relief fund started by St. Paul-based Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota. Collected through donations to the Minnesota Catholic Relief Fund for pandemic-related assistance to schools and parishes, the gifts to schools totaled $557,200. Some schools decided they were doing OK financially and offered their grants to schools more in need, said Meg Payne Nelson with CCF. About $176,000 remains in the fund to help meet the greatest needs of parishes and schools, she said. A special advisory committee makes grant decisions for the funds. For more information and to donate, go to ccf-mn.org/relief.

CNS

SEEKING RELIEF An Ethiopian child and young woman, who fled ongoing fighting in the Tigray region, are seen Nov. 13 at the al-Fashqa refugee camp in Sudan. A senior official of Jesuit Refugee Service, Andre Atsu, regional director in Eastern Africa, called for a humanitarian corridor in Ethiopia’s semi-autonomous region of Tigray as the armed conflict between the Ethiopian army and the region’s forces escalated, killing hundreds and forcing thousands out of their homes. “Whatever happens, they should allow a safe passage of supplies for humanitarian workers and refugees,” Atsu said. The fighting started Nov. 4 after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner, ordered the Ethiopian army into Tigray to fight the regional government after it allegedly attacked an Ethiopian army base in Mekele, the regional capital. Debretsion Gebremichael, a telecom engineer and leader of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, promised to fight the army. Tension between the two leaders has been rising since 2018, when Ahmed introduced political reforms that took away power from the liberation front officials.

7 p.m.

The time on Nov. 20 that “Catholic Young Adults: The Musical” will stream for free at Missed the Boat Theatre’s Facebook page. The locally written and produced show was performed last year at St. Agnes School’s auditorium in St. Paul. It was scheduled to return to the stage this fall at Providence Academy in Plymouth, but COVID-19 derailed plans for its second run.

11

The number of songs on “Caminemos con Jesús/Let Us Walk with Jesus,” an album up for a Latin Grammy Nov. 19 in the Best Christian Album category. The album is by Tony Alonso, an Emory University assistant professor in Decatur, Georgia, whose family is from Cuba and who grew up in Minnesota. The songs echo Pope Francis’ calls for a faith that involves encountering others and accompanying them on life’s journey, with its joys and problems.

17

The number of grade schools in the archdiocese that participated in the first “ofrenda (altar) contest” hosted by Edina-based Catholic Schools Center of Excellence. Ofrendas are a traditional part of celebrating the Latin American holiday “Dia de Los Muertos” (Day of the Dead). On Nov. 1 and 2, family members and friends remember loved ones who have died.

CSCOE awarded grants to the three winning schools. The winners: First place: Most Holy Redeemer Catholic School in Montgomery ($1,000 grant); second place: Our Lady of Peace Catholic School, Minneapolis ($750 grant); third place: St. Wenceslaus Catholic School, New Prague ($500 grant). Students at each school will have input on how to use the money.

Photos of all 17 schools’ altars are on CSCOE’s Facebook page.

3

The number of years Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens of St. Paul and Minneapolis will serve as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis. After serving one year as chairman-elect, Bishop Cozzens assumed the post from Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles at the Nov. 17 conclusion of USCCB’s virtual fall assembly. Bishop Cozzens has said that pressing concerns include forming missionary disciples, evangelizing a growing number of people who have left behind organized religion and evangelizing youth so they never leave the Church.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

SOUP FEST Addy Barland, right, gives a grocery bag filled with containers of soup to Carolyn Lipp of Minneapolis Nov. 15 during the annual Soup Fest at Holy Cross in northeast Minneapolis. This year’s event, run by the Polish American Cultural Institute of Minnesota, featured pre-made soup for pickup instead of the usual meal on site due to COVID-19 restrictions. People wanting soup had to pre-order, with a total of 40 gallons sold this year. Addy came to help with her mother, Rebecca Hooper, back left, and grandmother, Donna Sisler, back right, president of PACIM. The event at the church coincided with an 11 a.m. Mass to celebrate Polish Independence Day.

REDISCOVER:Hour On the show that aired Nov. 13, Rediscover:Hour host Patrick Conley interviews Hunter Johnson, a Twin-Cities-based videographer commissioned by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to create a documentary on restorative justice. Also, Tim Cahill and Annie Tracy with MSP Catholic chat about their upcoming event and re-launch. Lastly, Meggie Humphrey shares about a unique holy hour for children. Listen each week on Fridays at 9 p.m., Saturdays at 1 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. Find past shows at rediscover.archspm.org.

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The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 25 — No. 22 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief JOE RUFF, News Editor

READERS respond The Catholic Spirit adds ‘Readers Respond’ in 2021 In the new year, The Catholic Spirit is launching an occasional feature highlighting our readers’ stories and perspectives.

“Readers Respond” will feature short reader submissions to questions from The Catholic Spirit. Our first is this: How did the major events of 2020 help you grow in your faith? Please send your response in 250 words or less by Jan. 1, 2021, to CatholicSpirit@archspm.org. Please include your name and parish.

CORRECTION In the Nov. 5 issue, “Year of St. Joseph to begin with archdiocesan consecration Dec. 8” incorrectly stated the month of the 2022 Archdiocesan Synod. It will be held in June 2022.

Materials credited to CNS copy­righted by Catholic News Service.

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NOVEMBER 19, 2020

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3

FROMTHEMODERATOROFTHECURIA ONLY JESUS | FATHER CHARLES LACHOWITZER

The empty chair

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s we approach our national day of Thanksgiving, there will be too many homes with too many empty chairs. There will be homes where someone is missing because they died from COVID-19, God rest their souls.

The pandemic will also keep some people from traveling or cause others to avoid gathering in groups because it is just safer to stay at home. Sadly, some families will not invite those deemed disruptive or who might throw shade on the season to be jolly or rain on the holiday parade. Hopefully there will be future seasons of reunion and reconciliation.

But in this month of November, when we remember and pray for the dead, the empty chairs during the approaching season of the two great feasts of Thanksgiving and Christmas are a reminder that the shadow of death knows not our seasons nor our celebrations.

For those who have recently or over the years experienced the death of a beloved family member or close friend, getting through the loss, especially at Thanksgiving and Christmas, is a matter of getting used to these empty chairs.

What do we do with these empty chairs? Mourn those who have died as if we have no hope that we will ever see them again? Grieve them as if these empty chairs are nothing but a sign of absolute helplessness over the power of death? Put them into storage as if out of sight could ever be out of mind?

The symbolism of the empty chair is an invitation to not let who is missing be the final word. In the presence of Jesus, the final word is life beyond death, love beyond sin and a light showing us the way through all darkness.

We invite Jesus into that empty chair, no matter how many empty chairs there are. For that one chair with Jesus fills them all. As Christ the King, the resurrection and ascension of Jesus brought him to his seat on the great throne of heaven. Yet God humbled omnipotence to become a human being in Jesus Christ. Jesus needs only a simple empty chair and an open heart.

In faith, hope and love, we move beyond every experience of death to find healing and wholeness in Jesus Christ.

The same Holy Spirit who came upon the Blessed Virgin Mary so as to bring Jesus into our world, has come into our lives to bring us the person and real presence of Jesus Christ. Each and every time we have been to Mass, we have been at his table to be filled with the “bread of life

La silla vacía

muerte? ¿Guardarlos como si fuera de la vista pudiera estar fuera de la mente?

El simbolismo de la silla vacía es una invitación a no dejar que quien falta sea la última palabra. En la presencia de Jesús, la palabra final es vida más allá de la muerte, amor más allá del pecado y una luz que nos muestra el camino a través de todas las tinieblas.

Invitamos a Jesús a esa silla vacía, no importa cuántas sillas vacías haya. Porque esa silla con Jesús los llena a todos. Como Cristo Rey, la resurrección y ascensión de Jesús lo llevaron a su asiento en el gran trono del cielo. Sin embargo, Dios humilló a la omnipotencia para convertirse en un ser humano en Jesucristo. Jesús solo necesita una simple silla vacía y un corazón abierto.

En la fe, la esperanza y el amor, vamos más allá de cada experiencia de muerte para encontrar la curación y la plenitud en Jesucristo. El mismo Espíritu Santo que vino sobre la Santísima Virgen María para traer a Jesús a nuestro mundo, ha venido a nuestras vidas para traernos la persona y la presencia real de Jesucristo.

Todas y cada una de las veces que hemos estado en Misa, hemos estado en su mesa para llenarnos del “pan de vida y el cáliz de nuestra salvación”.

Celebremos con corazones agradecidos nuestro día nacional de Acción de Gracias. Encendamos las velas de la corona de Adviento con ritual y oración.

Otra forma de entrar en el significado de la temporada de Adviento es dejar a un lado una silla vacía para representar a todos los que han muerto, pero con una expectativa fiel, saber que Jesús aceptará

A

medida que nos acercamos a nuestro día nacional de Acción de Gracias, habrá demasiadas casas con demasiadas sillas vacías. Habrá hogares donde falta alguien porque murió de COVID19, que Dios descanse sus almas.

La pandemia también evitará que algunas personas viajen o hará que otras eviten reunirse en grupos porque es más seguro quedarse en casa.

Lamentablemente, algunas familias no invitarán a quienes se consideren disruptivos o agreguen negatividad a la temporada navideña. Con suerte, habrá temporadas futuras de reencuentro y reconciliación.

Pero en este mes de noviembre, cuando recordamos y oramos por los muertos, las sillas vacías durante la temporada que se acer ca de las dos grandes fiestas de Acción de Gracias y Navidad son un recordatorio de que la sombra de la muerte no conoce nuestras estaciones ni nuestras celebraciones.

Para aquellos que han experimentado recientemente o durante años la muerte de un familiar querido o amigo cercano, superar la pérdida, especialmente en Acción de Gracias y Navidad, es una cuestión de acostumbrarse a estas sillas vacías. ¿Qué hacemos con estas sillas vacías? ¿Llorar a los que han muerto como si no tuviéramos esperanzas de volver a verlos? ¿Llorarlos como si estas sillas vacías no fueran más que un signo de absoluta impotencia ante el poder de la

In faith, hope and love, we move beyond every experience of death to find healing and wholeness in Jesus Christ. and the chalice of our salvation.”

Let us celebrate with grateful hearts our national day of Thanksgiving. Let us light the candles on the Advent wreath with ritual and prayer. Another way to enter into the meaning of the Advent season is to actually set aside an empty chair to represent all who have died, yet with faithful expectation, know that Jesus will readily accept our invitation and take this seat.

Perhaps place a Bible on that chair — for Jesus is the Word Made Flesh.

Perhaps place a crucifix on that chair — for in Jesus there has been no greater love.

At least metaphorically, set aside an empty chair for the one who is to come

for us when we will leave behind an empty chair; a seat for the one who comes anew at Christmas to bring us grace, light and peace.

fácilmente nuestra invitación y tomará este asiento.

Quizás coloque una Biblia en esa silla, porque Jesús es la Palabra hecha carne.

Quizás coloque un crucifijo en esa silla, porque en Jesús no ha habido mayor amor.

Al menos metafóricamente, apartar una silla vacía para el que vendrá por nosotros cuando dejemos una silla vacía; un asiento para quien viene de nuevo en Navidad para traernos gracia, luz y paz.

Desde el Día de Acción de Gracias, el tiempo de Adviento, la Gran Fiesta de Navidad, la Solemnidad de María, Madre de Dios (Año Nuevo), la Epifanía y todo el camino hasta el 10 de enero y la Fiesta del Bautismo del Señor ( el final de la temporada navideña), que esa silla sea un ascenso de nuestra fe para hacer eco del fiat de la Santísima Virgen María, nuestro sí a Dios, nuestra invitación a Jesús a tomar asiento en nuestra mesa.

From Thanksgiving, to the Season of Advent, to the Great Feast of Christmas, to the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (New Year’s Day), to Epiphany and all the way to Jan. 10 and the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (the end of the Christmas season), let that chair be an ascent of our faith to echo the fiat of the Blessed Virgin Mary — our yes to God — our invitation to Jesus to take his seat at our table.

OFFICIAL Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis:

Effective November 1, 2020 Deacon James Bauhs, assigned to exercise the ministry of a permanent deacon at the Church of Saint Michael in Farmington. This is a transfer from his current parish assignment at the Church of Saint Joseph in Waconia. Deacon Bauhs will continue in his other ministries as chaplain to the Daughters of Isabella and as Parish Life Administrator for the Church of Saint Nicholas in Carver.

Deacon Gregory Miller, granted faculties of the Archdiocese and assigned to exercise the ministry of a permanent deacon at the Church of Saint Joseph in Waconia. Deacon Miller is a deacon of the Archdiocese of New York.

Effective November 9, 2020 Reverend Huy Duc Vu, C.Ss.R., assigned as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center. Father Vu is a priest of the Redemptorists of the Denver Province who was ordained to the priesthood on October 4, 2020.

Incardination Effective November 9, 2020 Reverend Biju Mathew Pattasseril, granted incardination into the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, from the Congregation of the Sons of the Immaculate Conception.

Effective November 15, 2020 Deacon Gregg Sroder, assigned to exercise the ministry of a permanent deacon at the Church of Saint Joseph in West Saint Paul. This is a transfer from his current parish assignment at the Church of Saint Matthew in Saint Paul and the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Saint Paul.

4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

LOCAL

SLICEof LIFE Michelangelo in Minnesota From left, Dave and Jackie Krenske of Divine Mercy in Faribault view a reproduction of a fresco called “The Creation of Adam” Nov. 15 at “Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition” at the Mall of America in Bloomington. The exhibit features 34 life-size reproductions of Michelangelo’s 16th-century ceiling frescoes that adorn the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. It will be on display through Jan. 31. “I’ve always wanted to see the Sistine Chapel, but knew we probably wouldn’t get there,” Jackie Krenske said. “So, we just thought this would be a real good way of being able to see it. It’s great.” SEE Global Entertainment in Los Angeles produced the exhibit, and has four others like it on display in other U.S. cities, as well as cities in other countries. SEE’s CEO, Martin Biallas, visited the Mall of America to see this exhibit, which opened Nov. 13. “What excites me the most is that we reach not only Catholic people, we also reach all people of faith,” said Biallas, who is Lutheran. “Of course, it’s a religious theme, but it (also) reaches the art fans, the history fans (and) all the different faiths.”

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Parish Stewardship Awards highlight COVID-19 innovations

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit A “ZIP code of hope,” a free monthly meal and a livestream Mass being shared by a local television affiliate.

For these efforts, three parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are being honored with Pillars of Stewardship Awards (nicknamed the “Stewies”) as they seek to promote prayer, participation and generosity — even in the midst of a global pandemic.

“The ‘Stewies’ Awards honor and recognize parish communities for outstanding work in executing the central mission of our Church,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda told those participating in a “virtual coffee” Nov. 14 to watch the second annual awards. “A Church which Jesus gave us to ‘go and make disciples, spreading the love of Jesus to all the people.’”

Organized by the Office of Stewardship and Development, officials said the awards offer an opportunity to recognize and promote best practices, communicate the fact that stewardship is a way of life and thank those who put in the work.

Parish ministries can be nominated or nominate themselves for a Stewardship Award. Stewardship Committee members judge the awards. Suggestions for next year’s awards will be accepted through Aug. 31, 2021, at archspm.org/stewies. uPrayer: St. John the Baptist, Savage Parishioners created a “ZIP code of hope” to help meet the spiritual needs of the community in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prayer groups visit care facilities and people in their driveways to pray with them, while maintaining social distancing. The vision has been to reach beyond the church walls to those who need spiritual support and companionship in these trying times. Residents at care facilities often go to their balconies to join the group in prayer. uParticipation: All Saints, Lakeville All Saints sponsors “Dinner on the Hill,” a free monthly meal for parishioners and the broader community that pre-pandemic drew about 75 people, including those building up parish life, seeking companionship or in financial straits. When the pandemic hit, the parish partnered with Knights of Columbus Council 8367 to transform the ministry to curbside pickup and a new delivery service to senior apartment complexes. The partnership now serves more than 450 meals every second Thursday of the month, with nearly 100 of those delivered to seniors. More than half of the people receiving curbside meals are not parishioners, indicating an important community need is being met. In addition to working at the event, parishioners financially support the expansion. uGenerosity: Our Lady of Grace, Edina When COVID-19 hit in March, Our Lady of Grace closed its doors to regular Mass and a parishioner, Ben Franske, who also is a video production consultant and producer, volunteered to help livestream weekly Masses.

The production quality caught the attention of a local TV affiliate, which contacted the parish and arranged to broadcast the Mass. Today, the 9:30 a.m. Sunday Mass is broadcast each Sunday at noon on Fox 9 Plus. Based on market demand, a formal agreement with the station has secured the noon hour for one year.

Day of prayer against racism Dec. 2

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit The police-involved death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an African American, amplified cries for racial justice and moved Father Michael Joncas to take action.

As protests and riots spread around the world, with the Twin Cities the epicenter, Father Joncas believed it would be good for Catholics to respond with prayer. He discussed the idea with Father Tom Margevicius, director of the Office of Worship at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “We already have set aside Jan. 22 as a day of prayer and fasting against the sin of abortion,” Father Margevicius said, so he told Father Joncas that his idea to do the same for the sin of racism made sense.

PLEASE TURN TO PRAYER DAY ON PAGE 23

LOCAL

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5

CORPS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 of his role, he’s done more than 150 COVID-19 anointings — by far the most of any corps member.

The medical center COVID-19 patients he’s anointed have largely been immigrant, Latino men, he noted, and the sacrament has been a chance for many of them to reconnect with the Catholic Church. Ministry to those families led to one man being baptized on his death bed, Father Jaspers said.

Behind the priests is a well-orchestrated network of volunteer nurses evaluating requests for anointings and ensuring those who are dying are connected with a priest for the sacrament. People who want a loved one to be anointed request it through their parish, or, at a medical facility, a nursing director or spiritual care director, which connects with a triage coordinator, who assesses the situation. If the person is actively dying or at the end of life with little chance of recovery, the triage coordinator connects with a member of the Anointing Corps, who hastens to perform the sacrament and sends out an alert. The triage nurse also alerts another volunteer to send a prayer text. (See “Text support” on page 1.)

Sydney March, an emergency room nurse with a background in theology and bioethics, coordinates the dozen other nurses volunteering as triage coordinators. She also tracks the Anointing Corps’ work and troubleshoots snags in the system, like miscommunication with a hospital or an uncooperative nursing facility.

If a request for anointing comes through for someone not yet fitting the ministry’s criteria, or the facility will not allow a priest in until a person is actively dying, the team keeps that person on a “pending” list, and a designated nurse follows up to see if their condition declines and a priest should be dispatched.

March said that having nurses — with their health care expertise, ability to relate to other nursing staff and compassion-imbued vocation — contact the hospitals and nursing facilities has been instrumental in opening doors and cutting through red tape.

They’ve coordinated anointings at 16 hospitals and 80 nursing facilities.

Total confirmed cases in Minnesota are rapidly increasing. On Sept. 14, the total confirmed cases in Minnesota in one day passed 1,000 for the first time, according to the state’s Department of Health.

Now, daily new cases are routinely in the thousands, reaching as high as 6,900 Nov. 6. Total positive cases hit 236,949 Nov. 17, with 186,680 no longer requiring isolation. Since March, nearly 3,000 people statewide have died of COVID-19, according to the MDH. About two-thirds of them have lived in long-term care or assisted living facilities.

The requests for anointings have generally followed infection rate trends, March said, with the number of calls increasing as statewide numbers go up. The most anointings coordinated on a single day so far was 13.

As of press time, the team had received 70 calls in November alone — and was only part way through the month. The previous highest month of calls was May, when the team was first dispatched.

The priests are typically only sent to anoint people who are in danger of death, said Father Paul Kubista, an Anointing Corps member who coordinates the team. “They’re on hospice or they’re shortly going to die,” he said of the people who receive the anointing.

“It is an important ministry,” he noted, because when people are dying, they are most in need of the anointing of the sick. “(In general), the sacrament can be given to anybody who’s seriously ill, but when they’re close to death, we not only give them anointing of the sick, but also the apostolic pardon.”

The inclusion of the apostolic pardon — which imparts full pardon and remission of all the person’s sins — within the anointing of the sick is what makes the sacrament the “last rites,” he explained.

The corps has been efficient, and very few of the people they’ve been sent to anoint have died before a priest arrived. The times when a priest doesn’t make it in time are crushing for March, who takes her role very seriously.

A parishioner of Transfiguration in Oakdale, March, 34, said that although it is hard, she trusts in God’s mercy and knowledge that he isn’t bound by his own

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Items used by Father Andrew Jaspers for anointing COVID-19 patients include both the practical and the spiritual. sacraments, and she also trusts his timing of death.

But it’s her job to help the triage coordinators remove as many barriers to anointing as possible. In June, the team at a facility with a dying COVID-19 patient was reluctant to allow a priest in for an anointing, but the triage nurse on call was able to persuade the facility’s team of the importance. Father Shireman finally got “the green light” and rushed to the anointing, he said. The person died as he was finishing the prayers.

“The triage nurse and I were able to just praise God for that, that it all worked out, that it worked out in God’s timing,” he said.

Beyond the use of the PPE, COVID-19 anointings are different than regular anointings of the sick, Father Jaspers said, because the people often are dying alone, with very little human contact. Chaplains from other Christian denominations don’t go in patients’ rooms, he said. Nurses and doctors come and go as quickly as possible. Father Jaspers spends only about 15 minutes with each person during the anointing, but it feels significant, especially when he anoints their head and hands with his gloved fingers.

“Spiritually, it’s being St. Damian of Molokai, or it’s like ministering to lepers,” he said. “We’re going in where few will tread.”

People who are anointed and their families are grateful, he said, although sometimes the person receiving the anointing is unconscious. And sometimes, the circumstances surprise him. In one case, he anointed a 70-year-old COVID patient only to find out from family that the man — a lifelong Catholic churchgoer — had never been baptized.

Father Jaspers returned to baptize and confirm the man, who died a short time later.

There have been a few other circumstances when the priest has administered additional sacraments, including two instances when people received baptism, confirmation and anointing of the sick.

March said that the Anointing Corps — and even priests anointing outside of the pandemic — offers an important witness to the beauty of the Church and the sacraments. “From the public witness standpoint, it’s just amazing” and needed, she said.

She encourages families with a loved one seriously ill with COVID-19 to talk to the hospital chaplain, or the nursing facility’s chaplain or director of nursing, to make their desire for an anointing clear. Many facilities won’t allow a priest to enter before someone is actively dying, but others may allow a priest when it’s clear the patient is unlikely to recover.

“I would strongly encourage families to reach out and know what the understanding of the facility is, in terms of allowing those spiritual needs,” she said. “And at the same time, I would encourage families to be bold and brave (in fighting for spiritual needs), because the sacraments are best received when someone is alert.”

Father Hedman, 26, has done about a dozen anointings since he joined the corps in the summer.

His first, he said, was a fellow priest who later recovered. Being a corps member deeply drives home the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, especially after he spent the spring quarantined as he finished studies at The St. Paul Seminary.

“It’s a real blessing to be able to be there at the end of life,” he said. “You just know that even though they might be passing away in hours or in minutes, you’re giving them the final graces, the forgiveness and the indulgence to have no time in purgatory. According to our faith, you’re making their transition to heaven as speedy as possible, even under such unfortunate situations.”

LOCAL

6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis announces new CEO

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit Michael Goar, incoming president and CEO of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said Nov. 10 he has experienced many of the challenges faced by clients of the social services nonprofit that he will lead.

A native of South Korea, Goar said he never knew his father, who was Black, and his Korean mother struggled to provide for them. At age 6, she placed him in an orphanage that served mixed race and disabled children. When he was 12, a south Minneapolis couple adopted Goar and brought him to the United States.

“I know what it means to be poor. I know what it means to be homeless. I know what it means to be hungry,” Goar, 55, told The Catholic Spirit on the same day he was named to his new post.

The announcement that Goar, MICHAEL GOAR CEO the past 4 1/2 years of Big Brothers Big Sisters Twin Cities, will replace Tim Marx effective Jan. 4 ended a nearly five-month, national search for a new leader at Catholic Charities. Goar said he was humbled and grateful for the opportunity.

Marx, 64, announced June 12 he was stepping down after nearly 10 years at the helm of the Twin Cities’ largest social services nonprofit. He said he would help search for, and ease the transition of, a new president and CEO. Marx will become Catholic Charities’ first president emeritus and focus on strategic projects.

“I am impressed with Michael’s passion and his grasp of the complex and dynamic environment in which service and social justice advocacy organizations like ours operate,” Marx said. “I’m

delighted that he’ll be succeeding me, and I will do everything possible to make his transition seamless and successful.”

Goar will lead an organization that last year celebrated its 150th anniversary. Catholic Charities has more than 500 employees and a large footprint in efforts to end homelessness, serve meals, and provide assistance to people in need and those facing mental health and other challenges. Last year alone, Catholic Charities served more than 23,000 men, women, children and families. (See pages 12-13 for more on the history of Catholic Charities.)

Catholic Charities also faces challenges that include serving people while keeping them safe in the midst of a global pandemic and promoting racial justice, particularly in the wake of local and national protests and riots that erupted after the May 25, policeinvolved death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an African American.

As leader of Big Brothers Big Sisters, Goar has helped it grow from serving 2,500 young people to serving close to 4,000. The high school graduation rate of the students it mentors is 89%. BBBS also is preparing to move into a new headquarters in north Minneapolis.

In addition to Big Brothers Big Sisters, Goar has served as CEO and interim superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, and executive director of Generation Next, a Twin Cities-based youth development organization. He has held executive positions and chief operating officer roles for Boston Public and Memphis City schools.

Goar told the search committee, which started with a pool of 1,000 potential candidates, narrowed it to 80 and ultimately to four semi-finalists, that “as a biracial child in South Korea, especially one with a Black biological father, my educational and career options were limited; schooling was sporadic, bullying was ever-present and finding role models who looked like me was rare. Moving to Minnesota

and becoming a U.S. citizen changed my life forever as I was now able to see possibilities I had never imagined before.”

A Lutheran, Goar said Catholic Charities is strongly committed to Catholic social teaching, and he is well-steeped in those teachings. He and his wife, Bethany, and their 5-year-old daughter, Grace, recently moved to St. Paul.

Goar said he looks forward to working with the Catholic Charities team. “I am energized by that level of interaction,” he said. “That’s my strength. I get joy from that.”

Archbishop Bernard Hebda immediately congratulated Goar.

“I am grateful that Michael Goar has agreed to accept the challenge of leading Catholic Charities at this point in our history,” the archbishop said in a statement. “For 150 years, Catholic Charities has offered an opportunity for members of this community to put our faith into action. It has been a privileged means for showing our support for Catholic social teaching and, in particular, our belief that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God and worthy of dignity and respect regardless of faith, background or circumstance. I look forward to working with Michael as Catholic Charities continues its important ministry of building relationships rooted in fraternal love and a shared sense of justice.”

Father Charles Lachowitzer, vicar general and moderator of the curia in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and a Catholic Charities board member, said he, too, looks forward to working with Goar.

“His experience in education and social organizations both locally and nationally makes him uniquely qualified to be able to serve those in need and create relationships that will keep Catholic Charities strong as it enters its 151st year of service,” Father Lachowitzer said.

Catholic schools among those reporting cases of COVID-19

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit At least six Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis recently reported five or more positive COVID-19 cases associated with students and staff, but transmission of the novel coronavirus might not have occurred in school buildings.

Emily Dahdah, associate director of Catholic education, said Catholic schools report cases to state health officials even if a student contracts the virus at home while quarantining because a family member has the virus.

“This doesn’t mean transmission is happening in the school building,” Dahdah said.

What action schools take in the event of a reported case of COVID-19 depends on each situation, Dahdah said. But to this point, there have been no large outbreaks of COVID-19 reported in any Catholic school in the archdiocese, she said.

Since the school year began, 115 public and private elementary and high schools across the state have been added to a list that the Minnesota Department of Health first began to release Oct. 2. Information Nov. 5 included St. Thomas More Catholic School in St. Paul, St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, BenildeSt. Margaret School in St. Louis Park and Providence Academy in Plymouth, marking the first time Catholic schools in the archdiocese were included. An update Nov. 12 included Visitation School in Mendota Heights and Cretin-Derham

Hall in St. Paul. The list is updated every Thursday.

When the school year began, the 91 Catholic elementary and high schools in the archdiocese made efforts to start with in-person learning, while retaining flexibility to return to distance learning if that became necessary, Dahdah said.

Distance learning was first adopted in schools across the state in March, when the global pandemic hit Minnesota.

Because of community spread of the virus, status of in-person and online learning among Catholic schools could change throughout the year, depending on circumstances, school officials said. Each school is adapting to health and safety protocols that include facial coverings, social distancing, and disinfecting hallways and classrooms.

The state health department tracks information across the state on various aspects of the pandemic and transmission of the novel coronavirus. In the case of schools, their status is made public if five or more cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, are associated with a given school within a two-week period.

Health officials remove schools from the list after they have gone 28 days with new no confirmed cases.

St. Thomas More follows strict safety procedures, said Pat Lofton, principal of the elementary school. To be proactive, the school informs school families, while maintaining confidentiality, not only when someone tests positive, but also when a student or staff member simply reports being tested for possible exposure

to the virus, he said.

The school went from zero cases in the first nine weeks of classroom work to 11 cases in the past three weeks among its 260 students, Lofton said Nov. 17. One older student has mild symptoms; eight students are asymptomatic. Informing parents that some students were being tested for the virus probably prompted more testing within families, resulting in students without symptoms being found to have the virus, Lofton said. Two staff members also have contracted the virus, but were exposed outside of the school building, he said.

Because of the positive tests, students in one preschool, two elementary and a middle school classroom quarantined at home for up to 10 days, but recently returned to in-person learning, Lofton said. Faculty and staff also are quarantining as necessary, and the school is relying more heavily than usual on substitute teachers, he said.

But identifying asymptomatic students early could help prevent further community spread because they are quarantining away from classmates, their own grandparents or other family members, including those who might be more vulnerable to harsher symptoms of the virus should they come down with COVID-19, Lofton said.

Another proactive decision by St. Thomas More: As a community of parents, staff and students, and in the face of rising COVID-19 cases in Ramsey County, the school has decided to go to distance-only learning in the three

weeks between Thanksgiving break and Christmas, and two weeks after Christmas, he said.

Students and staff at a second Catholic school on the list, St. Thomas Academy, also are following strict safety protocols.

Since the school year started, 33 students have tested positive for COVID-19, but symptoms have been mild, said Kelby Woodard, headmaster. Students quarantine for two weeks as necessary, as do those they might have come into contact with at the high school, Woodard said Nov. 17.

Three staff members and a faculty member also have tested positive for the coronavirus since the beginning of the school year, he said.

Students and staff appear to have contracted the virus outside of the school building, he said.

“We still have zero evidence of any transmission here on campus,” Woodard said.

Students who don’t feel comfortable coming to campus can take advantage of the school’s online learning, which is offered in real time and includes participation while learning remotely, he said. About 3% of the school’s 587 students have opted for online learning this year, for a variety of reasons, he said.

Staff at Visitation and Cretin-Derham Hall said they believe transmission of the virus has occurred outside the schools, not while students and staff are in-person learning. Strict COVID-19 protocols are being followed, they said.

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7

NATION+WORLD Biden says once he’s in White House, he’ll ‘unify’ the nation, not divide it Catholic News Service Presumed president-elect Joe Biden told hundreds of supporters in Wilmington, Delaware, that he pledged “to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify” and “who doesn’t see red states and blue states — only the United States.”

He will work with “all my heart, with the confidence of the whole people, to win the confidence of all of you,” he said in an evening speech Nov. 7. “And for that is what America I believe is about.

It’s about people. And that’s what our administration will be all about.”

Biden addressed the crowd hours after the media declared him the winner of the 2020 election. AP reported he had won Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, which put him over the 270 electoralvote-threshold needed to secure a victory.

Biden is the second Catholic to be elected to the nation’s highest office.

Sixty years ago, on Nov. 8, 1960, John F. Kennedy became the first. Vice Presidentelect Kamala Harris is the first woman and the first person of color to be elected to the second-highest office.

“I sought this office to restore the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, the middle class,” Biden said, “and to make America respected around the world again. And to unite us here at home.

“It’s the honor of my lifetime that so many millions of Americans have voted for that vision. And now, the work of making that vision is real, it’s a task — the task of our time.”

In the meantime, President Donald Trump and lawyers with his campaign have filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan — states where Biden has a slim margin over his Republican challenger.

PAPAL CALL

CNS

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden joins vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris onstage at a rally in Wilmington, Del., Nov. 7, after news media declared they had won the presidential election.

The suits challenge how votes are being counted and claim that in Nevada, votes are being counted from ballots sent in by people who no longer live in the state or were sent in on behalf of dead people.

The president, with 214 electoral votes, has yet to concede the race, for which his critics, even some Republicans, have harshly criticized him. But his supporters, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said Trump has a constitutional right to take his grievances to the courts.

In Wilmington, Biden thanked his family and supporters, and said he was proud of the diverse coalition that backed him.

“I’ll work as hard for those who didn’t vote for me as those who did,” he added.

“Let this grim era of demonization in

America begin to end here and now. The refusal of Democrats and Republicans to cooperate with one another, it’s not some mysterious force beyond our control.”

He said America is currently at “an inflection point,” like it has been at other times in its history. These points are shaped, he said, “by moments in time where we’ve made hard decisions about who we are and what we want to be: Lincoln in 1860 coming to save the union. FDR in 1932 promising a beleaguered country a new deal. JFK in 1960 pledging a new frontier, and 12 years ago, when Barack Obama made history, he told us, ‘Yes, we can.’”

The country has “an opportunity to defeat despair, to build a nation of prosperity and purpose. We can do it. I know we can,” he remarked.

Pope Francis called Joe Biden early Nov. 12 to congratulate him on winning the U.S. presidential election.

“The president-elect thanked His Holiness for extending blessings and congratulations and noted his appreciation for His Holiness’s leadership in promoting peace, reconciliation and the common bonds of humanity around the world,” said a readout on the call released by Biden’s transition team in Wilmington.

Biden, it said, “expressed his desire to work together on the basis of a shared belief in the dignity and equality of all humankind on issues such as caring for the marginalized and the poor, addressing the crisis of climate change, and welcoming and integrating immigrants and refugees into our communities.”

While he was on the campaign trail for the 2020 presidential race, Biden invoked Pope Francis and quoted his encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti, on Fraternity and Social Friendship,” released Oct. 4 by the Vatican.

In a campaign speech in Warm Springs, Georgia, Oct. 27, Biden talked about the need to heal the nation as the country faces the pandemic and an economic crisis.”Pope Francis warns us against this phony populism that appeals to the basest and most selfish instinct. He goes on to say politics is more noble than posturing, marketing and media spin. These sow nothing but division, conflict and bleak cynicism,” Biden said in his remarks.

“He said for those who seek to lead, we do well to ask ourselves why am I doing this?

Why? What is my real aim? Pope Francis asked questions that anyone who seeks to lead this great nation should be able to answer. And my answer is this: I run to unite this nation and to heal this nation,” he said.

— Catholic News Service

Pro-lifers fear ‘hard-core, pro-abortion forces’ in a Biden administration

By Tom Tracy Catholic News Service If President Donald Trump’s legal efforts to challenge his 2020 reelection results prove unsuccessful and Joe Biden becomes the 46th president of the United States, pro-life advocates are finding no silver linings.

“Biden will be directed by hard-core, pro-abortion forces,” said Mark Harrington, executive director of the Ohio-based Created Equal, a nonsectarian pro-life organization.

He spoke with Catholic News Service a week after the 2020 presidential election between incumbent Republican Trump and Biden, a Democrat and former vice president.

Although Trump has not yet conceded the race and is filing legal action over potential voter fraud, multiple media outlets have projected Biden to be the winner.

While in Georgia votes are being recounted, Biden has garnered 290 electoral votes while Trump has 232.

Harrington said he anticipates that under Biden and his vice president, Kamala Harris, the Department of Justice would screen all pending state legislation to make sure it conforms to Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortion on demand nationwide.

The Biden team also has vowed to repeal the longstanding Hyde Amendment, which outlaws federal tax dollars from directly funding abortion except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the woman would be endangered, he said.

They also “are going to attempt to codify Roe into federal statute in the event that Roe is overturned,”

Harrington said.

“Biden has already said he will sign an executive order restoring funding for Planned Parenthood,” he added, noting that Biden, if he wins the presidency, will likely consider New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a “pro-abortion” Democrat, for the position of secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

In addition, there is speculation of another possible Supreme Court seat becoming vacant in the next year — presumably leaving open a seat on the court for a Biden administration to fill. At 82, Justice Stephen Breyer is the oldest member of the court.

“We need to remain vigilant and not get discouraged,” Harrington said of pro-life battles. “We fought through the eight years of the Obama regime, and we’ll fight through the Biden-Harris years.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and other senior GOP lawmakers are backing Trump’s refusal to concede the election. They include Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who reportedly has congratulated Biden on an “apparent victory” but added that Trump should be afforded the chance to challenge the results.

Trump said in a Nov. 7 statement: “Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor.”

The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in several key states, including Pennsylvania, arguing there have been many irregularities in the process of counting votes and what votes are being counted.

“The American people are entitled to an honest

election: that means counting all legal ballots, and not counting any illegal ballots,” Trump’s statement said. “This is the only way to ensure the public has full confidence in our election. It remains shocking that the Biden campaign refuses to agree with this basic principle and wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured, or cast by ineligible or deceased voters.”

Tom McClusky, who is in charge of government affairs for the Washington-based March for Life organization, told CNS a Biden presidency would be a major setback for the pro-life movement, especially if state Medicaid restrictions for abortion funding are removed.

“It is also expected that Biden will surround himself with abortion activists looking for ways to use the federal government to push their extreme agenda,” McClusky said.

“Biden has vowed to rejoin international pro-abortion organizations like the World Health Organization and the United Nations Population Fund as well as resume the war on the Little Sisters of the Poor,” he added.

In July, the Little Sisters of the Poor won relief from the U.S. Supreme Court, which sided with them in their nine years of litigation over the Obama-era contraceptive mandate.

The Obama administration required employers to provide cost-free coverage for contraceptives, sterilizations and emergency birth control in employee health plans under the Affordable Care Act. He provided “an exemption for houses of worship and an accommodation for nonprofit organizations with PLEASE TURN TO ABORTION ON PAGE 8

NATION+WORLD

8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Bishops’ group to monitor Biden policies vs. Church teaching

By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit will head up a special working group of the U.S. bishops to address issues surrounding the election of a Catholic president and policies that may come about that would be in conflict with Catholic teaching and the bishops’ priorities.

Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, announced the establishment of this working group at the end of the public ARCHBISHOP portion of the bishops’ Nov. JOS É GOMEZ 16-17 meeting, held this year completely online. Other areas covered in the meeting included the Vatican report on Theodore McCarrick, and responding to the global pandemic and racial injustice in the United States.

Archbishop Vigneron is vice president of the USCCB. Other ARCHBISHOP members of the working group ALLEN VIGNERON will be USCCB committee chairmen in a number of areas where disagreement is expected between the Church and President-elect Joe Biden.

“We are facing a unique moment in the history of our country” with the election of only the second Catholic as president, Archbishop Gomez said. “This presents certain opportunities but also certain challenges.”

“The president-elect has given us reason to believe his faith commitments will lead to certain policies that we favor,” Archbishop Gomez said, listing immigration, aid to refugees and the poor, racial justice, capital punishment and climate change among them. But there also is the expectation that “he will support policies that are against some fundamental values we hold dear as Catholics,” the archbishop said.

“This includes repeal of the Hyde Amendment and his support for Roe v. Wade.”

The 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision allowed legal abortion virtually on demand throughout the United States. The Hyde Amendment forbids the use of federal funds to be used for abortions, with exceptions in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother.

The USCCB’s quadrennial statement “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,”

ABORTION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 religious missions.”

In a 7-2 decision July 8, the court upheld regulations put in place by the Trump administration to allow employers, like the Little Sisters, more ability to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage in their health plans for moral and religious reasons.

In a statement the same day, Biden said he was disappointed with the ruling and that as president, he would “restore the Obama-Biden policy” providing “an exemption and accommodation” on the mandate.

The “accommodation,” allowing religious nonprofits to cover contraceptives through a third-party, is what the Little Sisters have been fighting since 2011, saying it still requires the order to be complicit in providing contraceptives in violation of Church teaching. (See related story on page 16.)

Mary FioRito, the Cardinal Francis George fellow at the Ethics and Public

Archbishop Gomez said, has “a preeminent priority of elimination of abortion.”

He also listed “unequal treatment of Catholic schools,” the Equality Act and the “restoration of the HHS mandate.”

In 2011, under the Obama administration, coverage of contraceptives was added by the federal Department of Health and Human Services to a list of preventive services covered by the Affordable Care Act that employers would cover in their employee health plans without requiring a copay.

“These policies pose a serious threat to the common good whenever any politician supports them. We have long opposed these policies strongly and we will continue to do so,” Archbishop Gomez said.

“When politicians who profess the Catholic faith support them there are ... problems,” Archbishop Gomez added. “And one of the things it creates (is) confusion among the faithful about what the Church actually teaches on these questions.”

The HHS mandate included an exception for houses of worship and offered an accommodation for religious employers whereby they could ask a third party to cover contraceptives.

In separate cases, the family-owned Hobby Lobby chain and the Little Sisters of the Poor won the right from the Supreme Court to be exempt from the mandate.

But the Little Sisters were still in litigation over it for years. A policy from President Donald Trump’s administration exempted them from the mandate. It was challenged again in the courts, and in July of this year, the Supreme Court again ruled in favor of the religious order.

Also serving on the working group announced

by Archbishop Gomez will be the chairmen of the USCCB committees on doctrine and on communications.

Archbishop Gomez reminded his fellow bishops that after Trump was elected four years ago, there were “critical issues” that needed to be addressed. “Then as now, the committee existed to address those issues and the goal was to emphasize our priorities and enhance collaboration.”

“Thank you, brothers for raising these concerns,” Archbishop Gomez said to the committee chairs who had initially voiced concerns to him, “and please stay tuned as this develops further.” The U.S. bishops were to enter into an executive session following the close of the public portion of the meeting.

Policy Center in Washington, said the importance of the 2020 election can be understood in reports that Planned Parenthood spent $45 million in funding to help elect Biden — a tripling of its election bankroll in the 2016 election.

Biden also would likely reverse the socalled “Mexico City MARY FIORITO policy,” which blocks U.S. funding of foreign nongovernmental organizations that perform and promote abortion as a form of family planning.

First announced by President Ronald Reagan during an international meeting in Mexico City, it has been upheld by Republican presidents since then and overturned by Democratic presidents.

“Biden’s position is vastly out of step with the American public, since the majority of Americans, even some who identify as ‘pro-choice,’ do not want their tax dollars used for programs that

HEADLINES u Second hurricane hits Nicaragua. Hurricane Iota struck Nicaragua 15 miles south of where Hurricane Eta hit the Central American country just two weeks earlier, and early reports were of disastrous situations. The Category 4 storm hit the coast of Nicaragua near the border of Honduras around 9:40 p.m. Nov. 16, causing storm surges and flooding and further damaging buildings already wrecked by Hurricane Eta. The U.S. National Weather Service called Hurricane Iota the strongest storm of the 2020 season; Hurricane Eta was the second-strongest storm. Church leaders in Central America prayed for protection, while the Church’s aid agency, Caritas, and parishes again mobilized to provide shelter to populations still trying to clean up and rebuild after Hurricane Eta deluged Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala. u Bishop Conley resumes leadership of Lincoln Diocese after medical leave. Following an 11-month medical leave of absence, Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, received Pope Francis’ authorization to return to full pastoral care of his diocese Nov. 13. In December 2019, Bishop Conley said, he was diagnosed “with depression and anxiety, along with chronic insomnia and debilitating tinnitus,” prompting the leave. u Kenyan bishops: People want ‘better government,’ not more government. Kenya’s Catholic bishops have expressed discomfort at proposals to expand government in a report from Building Bridges Initiative, a process President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga launched in 2018. Bishops said Nov. 12 that they are concerned that issues such as reconciliation and healing, restoration of values, democratic governance, and economic recovery and services are missing from the report. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has a solidarity partnership with the Diocese of Kitui in Kenya. u Caritas Philippines appeals for aid to help in recovery from super typhoon. The Catholic Church’s humanitarian aid arm Caritas and a Jesuit university appealed for aid to help in recovery efforts after Super Typhoon Goni struck the Philippines Nov. 11. The strongest storm this year there killed at least 20 people, sparked mudslides that buried hundreds of homes and displaced about 390,000 people. u Vatican seeks to replace its service vehicles with all-electric fleet. The gradual change announced Nov. 10 is part of Vatican City State’s long-running efforts to respect the environment and reduce its use of resources. u Christians again top list of faiths facing hostility worldwide.

Christians top the list for countries where they face either governmental or social hostility, according to a new report issued Nov. 10 by the Pew Research Center. Christians have topped the list each year since Pew started collecting data in 2007. The number of countries where Christians face some form of hostility rose from 143 in 2017 to 145 in 2018, the latest year for which statistics are available. Christians were followed in order by Muslims, Jews, “others,” folk religions, Hindus, Buddhists and the religiously unaffiliated.

endorse abortion as a method of family planning,” said FioRito, an attorney, public speaker and commentator on issues involving women’s leadership in the Church.

“In opposing the Mexico City policy, Biden is consistent with positions taken by previous Democratic administrations, including (Bill) Clinton and (Barack) Obama,” she told CNS. Biden’s promises on the campaign trail and put forth in his “Early Executive Actions” list are out of step with the American sentiment on abortion — which is largely in favor of limits on abortion — and on funding it with federal tax dollars, FioRito said.

“Most dramatically, Biden has said he will make ‘Roe v. Wade the law of the land,’” she said. “Codifying Roe, and its companion case Doe v. Bolton, in federal law and making them ‘the law of the land’ is wildly out of step with the views of the majority of Americans, who would generally restrict abortion to the first trimester of pregnancy.”

Among Catholics, news agency

— Catholic News Service

AP VoteCast showed they were split between the two candidates, with 50% of Catholics backing Trump and 49% Biden; most of the support for Biden came from Latino Catholics, the second largest ethnic group in the Church, who overwhelmingly cast votes for Biden.

Trump’s successful appointment of Catholic Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court also scored points with pro-lifers and U.S. Constitution originalists.

Biden has referenced his Catholic faith on a number of occasions and appealed to Catholic voters during the campaign by referencing Pope Francis.

FioRio noted Biden claims to be guided and motivated by the Catholic Church’s social justice teachings but neglects to mention the Church’s social justice doctrine has as its foundation respect for human life from conception to natural death.

“One cannot simultaneously support abortion on demand and be working within a Catholic social justice framework,” she said.

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9

SPECIALREPORT

McCarrick report documents repeated lack of serious investigation Catholic News Service

A

lthough dogged for years by rumors of sexual impropriety, Theodore McCarrick was able to rise up the Catholic hierarchical structure based on personal contacts, protestations of his innocence, and a lack of Church officials reporting and investigating accusations, according to the Vatican report on the matter.

In choosing then-Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of Newark in 2000 to be archbishop of Washington and later a cardinal, St. John Paul II likely overlooked rumors and allegations about McCarrick’s sexual misconduct because of a long relationship with him, McCarrick’s own strong denial and the pope’s experience with communist authorities in Poland making accusations to discredit the Church, the report said.

But, in fact, rumors of McCarrick’s conduct, especially knowledge that he had young adult men and seminarians sleep in the same bed with him when he was bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey, led the Vatican to decide it would be “imprudent” to promote him when looking for candidates to become archbishop of Chicago in 1997, New York in 1999-2000 and, initially, of Washington in July 2000, the report said.

The text of the report makes clear that because the allegations involved behavior with adult men, not minors, both diocesan and Vatican officials did not consider McCarrick’s actions abusive, made excuses for McCarrick based on his lack of real family ties and were overwhelmingly concerned with the Church’s reputation, not the health or safety of his alleged victims.

The “Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and DecisionMaking Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick” was released Nov. 10; it included an introduction describing the two-year investigation that led to the report’s compilation and gave an “executive summary” of its findings.

In June 2018, the Vatican suspended McCarrick from ministry after an investigation by the Archdiocese of New York found credible a charge that he sexually abused a teenager. McCarrick resigned from the College of Cardinals in July, and in February 2019, after a canonical process found McCarrick guilty of “solicitation in the sacrament of confession and sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors and with adults, with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power,” Pope Francis dismissed him from the priesthood.

In August 2018, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, former nuncio to the United States, called on Pope Francis to resign after claiming that he had informed Pope Francis of McCarrick’s abuse in 2013 and that top Vatican officials knew of McCarrick’s abusive behavior for years.

That claim led Pope Francis to initiate an investigation into how McCarrick was able to continue to rise through Church ranks despite the repeated rumors, anonymous letters, allegations and even settlements with alleged victims.

The report summary said, “No records support Vigano’s account” of his meeting with Pope Francis “and evidence as to

Then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is seen at the Vatican March 4, 2013. what he said is sharply disputed.”

Until the allegations about child sexual abuse were made to the Archdiocese of New York in 2017, “Francis had heard only that there had been allegations and rumors related to immoral conduct with adults occurring prior to McCarrick’s appointment to Washington,” it said.

“Believing that the allegations had already been reviewed and rejected by Pope John Paul II, and well aware that McCarrick was active during the papacy of Benedict XVI, Pope Francis did not see the need to alter the approach that had been adopted in prior years,” the summary said.

While acknowledging efforts made

by Archbishop Vigano to bring rumors about McCarrick to the attention of his superiors while Pope Benedict was still in office, the report also claimed the former nuncio was instructed to investigate an allegation in 2012 and failed to do so.

The introduction to the report said it is based on documents found at the Vatican and the apostolic nunciature in the United States as well as interviews — “ranging in length from one to 30 hours” — with more than 90 witnesses in the United States, Italy and elsewhere. They included survivors, Pope Francis, retired Pope Benedict XVI, cardinals, bishops, former seminarians and a mother who was shocked by McCarrick’s behavior with her sons.

In a statement issued with the report, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the contributions of survivors were “fundamental.” The introduction of the report cautions survivors of abuse that certain sections “could prove traumatizing” and warns that some portions of the document are “inappropriate for minors.”

He also said that over the course of the two years it took to complete the investigation and compile the report, “we have taken significant steps forward to ensure greater attention to the protection of minors and more effective interventions to avoid” repeating errors of the past.

CNS

Among those steps, he highlighted “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (“You are the Light of the World”), Pope Francis’ 2019 document on promoting bishops’ accountability and setting out procedures for handling accusations of abuse against bishops.

The report said St. John Paul II’s decisions to name McCarrick bishop of Metuchen in 1981 and archbishop of Newark in 1986 were based on “his background, skills and achievements.

During the appointment process, McCarrick was widely lauded as a pastoral, intelligent and zealous bishop.”

It also said that, at the time, “no credible information emerged suggesting that he had engaged in any misconduct.”

But in October 1999, Cardinal John O’Connor of New York wrote to Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, then nuncio in the United States, summarizing allegations about McCarrick, thenarchbishop of Newark. The letter was given to St. John Paul II’s, who asked Archbishop Montalvo to investigate.

The nuncio did so by writing to four New Jersey bishops: Bishops James McHugh of Camden, 1989-1998; Vincent Breen of Metuchen, 1997-2000; Edward Hughes of Metuchen, 1987-1997; and John Smith of Trenton, 1997-2010.

“What is now known, through investigation undertaken for preparation of the report, is that three of the four American bishops provided inaccurate and incomplete information to the Holy See regarding McCarrick’s sexual conduct with young adults,” the summary said.

In response to Cardinal O’Connor’s accusations, the report said, McCarrick wrote to now-Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, St. John Paul’s secretary, claiming: “In the 70 years of my life, I have never had sexual relations with any person, male or female, young or old, cleric or lay, nor have I ever abused another person or treated them with disrespect.”

“McCarrick’s denial was believed,” the report said, adding that because of “the limited nature of the Holy See’s own prior investigation, the Holy See had

never received a complaint directly from a victim, whether adult or minor, about McCarrick’s conduct.”

“Though there is no direct evidence,” the report added, “it appears likely from the information obtained that John Paul II’s past experience in Poland regarding the use of spurious allegations against bishops to degrade the standing of the Church played a role in his willingness to believe McCarrick’s denials.”

In addition, McCarrick had a relationship with the Polish pope going back to his days as the cardinal of Krakow. The summary said, “McCarrick’s direct relationship with John Paul II also likely had an impact on the pope’s decision-making.”

St. John Paul II “personally made the decision” to name him archbishop of Washington and a cardinal, it said.

The report also concluded that nowretired Pope Benedict XVI did not initiate a formal canonical process against McCarrick or even impose sanctions on him because “there were no credible allegations of child abuse; McCarrick swore on his ‘oath as a bishop’ that the allegations were false; the allegations of misconduct with adults related to events in the 1980s; and there was no indication of any recent misconduct.”

However, after initially asking McCarrick to stay on in Washington for two years past his 75th birthday in 2005, the report said, new details related to a priest’s allegations about McCarrick’s sexual misconduct emerged and Pope Benedict asked him to step down in 2006.

At the time, it said, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, then-prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, told McCarrick “he should maintain a lower profile and minimize travel for the good of the Church.”

“While Cardinal Re’s approach was approved by Pope Benedict XVI, the indications did not carry the pope’s explicit imprimatur, were not based on a factual finding that McCarrick had actually committed misconduct and did not include a prohibition on public ministry,” the summary said.

Archbishop Vigano, while working in the Vatican Secretariat of State, wrote memos in 2006 and 2008 “bringing questions related to McCarrick to the attention of superiors,” the report said.

The memos referred to allegations and rumors about McCarrick’s “misconduct during the 1980s and raised concerns that a scandal could result given that the information had already circulated widely.”

The archbishop, the report said, noted that “the allegations remained unproven,” but he suggested opening a canonical process to investigate.

Archbishop Vigano, who was appointed nuncio to the United States in 2011, was “instructed” in 2012 to conduct an inquiry into allegations by a priest who claimed he was sexually assaulted by McCarrick, the summary said.

Archbishop Vigano, it continued, “did not take these steps and therefore never placed himself in the position to ascertain the credibility” of the priest’s claims.

10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

RELEVANT EVENTS u1958, June 15 Father Theodore McCarrick ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New York by Cardinal Francis Spellman. u1958 Father McCarrick performs his first baptism in Tenafly, New Jersey. The child, James, later would allege he was abused

by Father McCarrick. u1969 Msgr. McCarrick named assistant secretary of education for the Archdiocese of New York. u1969 Msgr. McCarrick allegedly exposes himself to James, then an 11-year-old boy, in Northern New Jersey. As reported

by The New York Times July 19, 2018, James alleged that an abusive relationship continued for nearly 20 years. u1971 Msgr. McCarrick becomes personal secretary to Cardinal Terence Cooke of New York. u1971 Msgr. McCarrick allegedly abuses a 16-year-old altar boy in the Archdiocese of New York prior to Christmas Mass.

A year later he allegedly abuses the same altar boy, again before Christmas Mass. Both incidents were reported to the archdiocese sometime between March 1, 2017, and April 15, 2018. u1977, June 29 Msgr. McCarrick ordained as an auxiliary bishop of New York by Cardinal Cooke. u1981, Jan. 31 Bishop McCarrick installed as first bishop of newly created Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey. u1984 Bishop McCarrick authorizes Diocese of Metuchen to purchase beach house in Sea Girt, New Jersey, according to The New York Times. He is alleged to have abused seminarians at the house. u1986, July 25 Archbishop McCarrick installed as archbishop of Newark, New Jersey. u1987 Archbishop McCarrick allegedly abuses unnamed seminarian for the Diocese of Metuchen in New York City. The former priest received a settlement from the Archdiocese of Newark and Diocese of Metuchen in 2007, as reported by The New York Times July 16, 2018. u1994 The unnamed Metuchen priest writes a letter to Archbishop McCarrick’s successor in Metuchen, Bishop Edward Hughes, stating that abuse he allegedly endured from Archbishop McCarrick and other priests triggered him to touch two 15-year-old boys inappropriately. In the letter he also claimed he saw Archbishop McCarrick having sex with a young priest and that the archbishop invited him to be next.

The letter was in a file the priest provided to the Times on the condition his name not be used. u1995, October Archbishop McCarrick hosts Pope John Paul II in Newark during his Oct. 4-9 visit to the United States. u2000, Nov. 21 Archbishop McCarrick appointed by Pope John Paul II as archbishop of Washington. u2000, Nov. 22, 24 Seminary instructor Father Boniface Ramsey says he spoke Nov. 22 with Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, the Vatican nuncio in Washington, about his concerns about Archbishop McCarrick. He also expressed his concerns in a letter addressed to the nuncio and mailed Nov. 24. Father Ramsey, who taught at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University in New Jersey from 19861996, said he was told by seminarians about Archbishop McCarrick’s alleged sexual abuse at the New Jersey beach house. u2001, Jan. 3 Archbishop McCarrick installed as archbishop of Washington and is elevated by Pope John Paul II the next month to cardinal. u2002, April 23, 24 U.S. cardinals including Cardinal McCarrick meet at the Vatican for a summit with Pope John Paul II as sex abuse crisis unfolds in the United States. Cardinal McCarrick is on drafting committee of document that emerges from summit.

He also is a spokesman for the bishops in Rome and one of three U.S. prelates to give a news conference at the Vatican. u2002, April 28 Cardinal McCarrick speaking on “Fox News Sunday” urges a distinction between past offenders and anyone who offends from now on. He said he supports the removal of any priest accused in the future but added that cardinals are divided about whether such a policy should be applied to past allegations. u2002, June Cardinal McCarrick helps draft “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” in Dallas during a meeting of all the U.S. bishops. Charter does not specify abuse committed by bishops or cardinals or abuse of adults over the

SPECIALREPORT

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

age of 18; a statement of commitment in the charter obliges bishops to report to the apostolic nuncio if they themselves are accused of sexually abusing a minor or if they become aware of an allegation of such abuse by a bishop. Cardinal McCarrick tells the Catholic Standard, his archdiocesan newspaper, that he had been hesitant to support the charter’s “no strikes” policy of removing from ministry everyone against whom there has been a credible charge of sexual abuse. u2004 Unnamed priest who wrote letter to Bishop Hughes of Metuchen in 1994 claiming abuse by Archbishop McCarrick is forced to resign under the U.S. Church’s new zero-tolerance policy against child abuse, based on his admission in the 1994 letter of having abused children. u2004, Oct. 1 The Washingtonian magazine runs a profile article on Cardinal McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington.

The article states that “for the past 20 years he has vacationed for a week every year on the New Jersey shore, where a friend loans him a house. He usually takes along a group of priests or seminarians.”

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u2005 Robert Ciolek, former priest of the Diocese of Metuchen, receives a secret payment of $80,000 from the Diocese of Metuchen and the Archdiocese of Newark as a settlement for alleged abuse by Archbishop McCarrick. u2006, May 16 Cardinal McCarrick’s resignation as archbishop of Washington is accepted by Pope Benedict XVI. He had submitted his resignation when he turned 75 on July 7, 2005, as required by canon law. u2007 Unnamed former priest of the Diocese of Metuchen who was allegedly abused as a seminarian in 1987 in New York by Archbishop McCarrick receives secret settlement of $100,000 from the Diocese of Metuchen and the Archdiocese of Newark. u2008, April 22 Richard Sipe, a former priest who was an adjunct professor at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, posts open letter on internet to Pope Benedict alleging Cardinal McCarrick sexually abused seminarians and young priests.

He said seminarians came to him with their concerns while he was teaching at seminary. u2010, May 12 Sipe states in an internet post that the case of a financial settlement by the Diocese of Metuchen and the Archdiocese of Newark related to Cardinal McCarrick was sent to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles clergy sex abuse claims among some of its responsibilities. He says the congregation has not responded.

Sipe posts graphic information from the settlement about an alleged incident involving Archbishop McCarrick and a seminarian and two young priests. u2017, March 1 to April 15, 2018 During this time the Archdiocese of New York receives an allegation that Msgr.

McCarrick abused a teenage boy in 1971 and 1972. Allegation handled according to procedures in “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” u2018, June 20 New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan announces that Cardinal McCarrick has been removed from ministry at direction of the Vatican after an investigation by the Archdiocese of New York found credible a charge that he sexually abused a teenager. u2018, June 20 Cardinal McCarrick issues statement saying that he was advised months ago by Cardinal Dolan about the allegation against him. Cardinal McCarrick maintains that he is innocent and says he does not have recollection of the abuse. u2018, June 20 Newark Cardinal Joseph Tobin issues statement about Cardinal McCarrick saying the Archdiocese of Newark and the Diocese of Metuchen “received three allegations of sexual misconduct with adults decades ago; two of these resulted in settlements.” u2018, June 20 Metuchen Bishop James Checchio says a re-examination of diocesan archives did not uncover “any report or allegation that Cardinal McCarrick ever abused any minor during his time in Metuchen.” Bishop Checchio acknowledges that in the past there have been allegations that then-Bishop McCarrick engaged in sexual behavior with adults. u2018, June 20 Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington issues statement saying that concurrent with the Archdiocese of New York investigation he requested a review be made of Washington archdiocesan records. He states that no claims were made against Cardinal McCarrick during the prelate’s time in Washington.

u2018, July 16 The New York Times publishes a front-page story detailing alleged abuse of two seminarians who became priests in the Diocese of Metuchen, by Cardinal McCarrick in the 1980s that resulted in settlements to both men. These are the settlements concerning “sexual misconduct with adults” as described by the Newark Archdiocese and Diocese of Metuchen June 20. u2018, July 24 Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, issues a statement confirming that his office in 2015 received a letter from Father Boniface Ramsey alerting them to abuse by Cardinal McCarrick. Cardinal O’Malley states he did not “personally receive” the letter, and that at the staff level a reply was made to Father Ramsey that it “did not fall under the purview of the Commission or the Archdiocese of Boston.” u2018, July 28 Pope Francis accepts resignation of Cardinal McCarrick from College of Cardinals and suspends him from public ministry. The pope orders him to a “life of prayer and penance” until the accusations against him are examined in a canonical trial. u2018, Aug. 1 Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of GalvestonHouston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, announces that the conference “will pursue the many questions surrounding Archbishop McCarrick’s conduct to the full extent of its authority.” u2018, September The Archdiocese of Washington announces that Archbishop McCarrick has been sent to live among a small community of Capuchin Franciscan friars in rural Kansas. u2018, Oct. 6 The Vatican issues a statement noting that a year earlier there had been a preliminary investigation into an allegation against Archbishop McCarrick and the results will be combined with a further study of documents. The Vatican promised that a complete report on how McCarrick was able to continue to rise through Church ranks would be made public “in due course.” u2018, Dec. 27 James Grein, a Virginia man who said Archbishop McCarrick sexually abused him for years beginning when he was 11, gives testimony before a judicial vicar for the New York Archdiocese. His testimony was requested by the Vatican. u2019, Jan. 5 The online Catholic news outlet Crux reports that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is reviewing a third case involving Archbishop McCarrick and a minor, one more case than previously reported. u2019, Jan. 10 Church officials confirm that Cardinal Donald Wuerl, now retired archbishop of Washington, had forwarded an allegation of sexual misconduct against Archbishop McCarrick to the papal nuncio in Washington in 2004, when Cardinal Wuerl was bishop of Pittsburgh. u2019, Feb. 13 Dioceses in the state of New Jersey make public the names of priests whom they said had been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of minors, including Archbishop McCarrick. His inclusion is based “on the findings of the Archdiocese of New York that allegations of abuse of a minor against then-Father McCarrick were credible and substantiated.” u2019, Feb. 16 Pope Francis confirms McCarrick’s removal from the priesthood after he was found guilty of “solicitation in the sacrament of confession and sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors and with adults, with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power.” u2019, Dec. 2 John Bellocchio files suit against McCarrick and the Archdiocese of Newark claiming McCarrick sexually assaulted him when he was 14 and the then-Archbishop McCarrick was visiting Bellocchio’s parish in Hackensack, New Jersey. Bellocchio also alleges Vatican officials were aware of McCarrick’s behavior over his more than 60 years as a cleric and yet continued to promote him as a Church leader. u2020, Jan. 3 McCarrick moves out of the Capuchin friary in Kansas; his current location has not been made public. u2020, July 22 Minnesota Attorney Jeff Anderson announces he filed a lawsuit in New Jersey’s Middlesex County Superior Court alleging his client, identified only as John Doe 14, was abused as a boy by McCarrick in the Sea Girt beach house. u2020, Nov. 10 The Vatican releases the McCarrick report, first promised in October 2018.

— Catholic News Service

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

SPECIALREPORT

Report’s X-ray look into U.S. abuse scandal digs up pain, hope in transparency

By Rhina Guidos Catholic News Service

T

he Catholic Church’s unusual transparency in a report detailing the ascent to power of former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, despite top Church officials’ knowledge of his sexual abuses, brought feelings of betrayal and hurt after its Nov. 10 release.

“As I read the #McCarrick report I am disgusted,” tweeted Juan Carlos Cruz, a survivor of clergy sexual abuse, shortly after the publication of the long-awaited document on who knew what and when at the Vatican and in the U.S. Church about the abuses of the former archbishop of Washington.

Many have wondered: If Church officials knew, how did they allow him to continue and worse, why was he elevated to cardinal?

The public might find it difficult to digest some of the stomach-churning and heart-wrenching moments in the report, not only of the abuse unleashed on children but of the helplessness of the laity, of Catholic families, including an account of a mother who tried to stop the abuse by bringing it up to Church leaders who turned a blind eye to it, said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, associate professor of American studies and history at the University of Notre Dame.

But it’s a groundbreaking document nevertheless, Cummings told Catholic News Service in an interview Nov. 10, because “nobody comes out looking like (a) hero,” and the painful truth found in it gives hope “that the Catholic Church internally can investigate itself,” she said.

McCarrick, 90, was dismissed by the Vatican from the clerical state in February 2019 following an investigation of accusations that he had abused children early on in his career of more than 60 years as a cleric, and that he also had abused seminarians as a bishop in New Jersey.

After allegations were made public in the summer of 2018, he left the spotlight of Washington that fall, banished from his life as an elder globetrotter to a life of prayer and penance at a Capuchin friary in rural Salina, Kansas. He left that place in early 2020. His whereabouts since then are unknown.

The report shows his friendship with St. John Paul II, who, as pope, had heard sex abuse accusations against McCarrick as he considered naming him a bishop, but believed the cleric when he denied wrongdoings.

“The layers of complicity are deep in this,” Cummings said.

Nevertheless, “recognizing is the first step to claiming power” over the problem, she added.

“I hope a positive way to read this would be to say that laypeople, as well, have to dismantle the clerical culture of privilege that McCarrick helped create and certainly sustain,” she said.

Publication of the report prompted calls for meaningful reform, particularly from victims.

John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public

Life at Georgetown University, who has written about his sexual abuse by a cleric at his high school seminary, said in a statement Nov. 10 that he hadn’t yet read the report, but in telling the “truth about terrible past failures,” he hoped the Church would recognize and apologize “for the horrific pain and loss of victim/survivors.”

And bishops came out publicly expressing sorrow for the past. They included Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago; Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia; and many others.

“The report issued today is unprecedented and a watershed moment as it pulls back the curtain on a culture of clericalism that has separated the clergy from the people they have been ordained to serve,” said Cardinal Cupich in a statement. “While the report makes for painful reading, it is fearless in admitting the failures of Church leaders.”

It was another example of Pope Francis’ commitment to responsibility, accountability and transparency to victim-survivors and all harmed by the sexual abuse of minors and other misconduct by the clergy and bishops of the Catholic Church, he said.

Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri, who has been an outspoken critic of the Church’s handling of the abuse cases, said the report showed the difficulty for any closed system, “even one divinely inspired,” to handle charges of misconduct against anyone with power and authority. Thus, there is a need for a protocol that ensures accountability and involvement by laity.

“The report clearly shows a closed system depends upon the power of the accused, rather than the legitimacy of the accusations, in determining responses,” he said in a statement. “We need to move forward with the reforms recently enacted. Laity can and must assume an important role in assuring proper transparency and accountability of the hierarchy.”

But even the laity are not immune to partaking in clericalism, and that’s why reading the report is important for all who take part in the life of the Church, Cummings said.

“It would be a mistake to think that only clerics can be guilty of clericalism because members of the laity can, as well, by automatically giving deference to those who wear a collar that they wouldn’t give to anyone else,” she said.

She gave the example of one of the cases detailed in the report, where the father of one of McCarrick’s victims didn’t react to the cleric caressing the inner thigh of one of his sons.

“He literally does not see it. He’s oblivious to it, and that’s because clerical privilege is blinding him to that,” Cummings said. “So, I think that is a dramatic example. But we all have to ask ourselves: What are we willing to let clerical leaders get away with that we wouldn’t ever allow among lay leaders in professional settings or even in, even in church settings? ... Why are we looking away?”

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 11

WHAT VICTIMS’ ACCOUNTS REVEAL The Vatican Secretariat of State’s report on Theodore McCarrick provides a glimpse into how a number of witnesses and victims of the former cardinal’s abuse sought numerous ways to alert Church officials and were disturbingly aware their allegations might trigger repercussions.

Over its 460 pages, the report also reveals how much difference 30 years can make when it comes to flagging misconduct and abuse.

The report begins with a New York mother’s account of writing to every U.S. cardinal and the papal representative in the mid-1980s detailing McCarrick’s “dangerous” behavior toward her underage sons. Having left no address or legible name, her red-flag warnings went unheeded.

Decades later, in 2017, when the Archdiocese of New York received an allegation of the sexual abuse of a minor by McCarrick in the early 1970s, the report showed how the archdiocese’s now mandatory reporting system and procedures resulted in McCarrick’s eventual dismissal, first from the College of Cardinals and, later, from the priesthood.

But for decades in between, the victims and witnesses described in the report recount how they struggled to figure out if and how they should or could make their claims in essentially a no-man’s land for accusations.

Haphazardly handled, ignored or dismissed allegations meant spotty paper trails, ineffective investigations that failed to find “hard” credible evidence, and a climate of incessant gossip and rumors about McCarrick’s proclivities that ended up being leveraged by some to paint him as “a victim” of envy and enemies.

A New York woman, called “Mother 1” in the report, describes how McCarrick groomed her family into trusting him and feeling special by receiving his kind and generous attention during the 1970s and ‘80s.

But she began to see the then-bishop as a threat when she caught him massaging her sons’ inner thighs in front of her husband, who seemed, in her words, “oblivious to Ted’s behavior.”

While she felt they needed to get him “out of our

lives,” her husband “refused to understand,” and she proceeded to witness ongoing inappropriate touching and massaging by McCarrick with her oldest son. But when she found out the priest was bringing alcohol along on overnight trips with her underage sons, she realized he was “a dangerous person” engaged in premeditated actions.

She confronted “Ted” for pressuring her distraught son into going on these trips and, after that, his “charm disappeared.” She said she felt alone in her suspicions and feared McCarrick could retaliate against her children if she made a report.

“Not knowing where to go or who to turn to” in order to warn Church leaders about McCarrick, the report said, the woman spent a whole day “feeling pure anger” and writing a letter to each U.S. cardinal and the papal nuncio, Archbishop Pio Laghi, using names and addresses found in the Catholic directory at a library in Metuchen, New Jersey, near McCarrick’s residence.

Her letters, and a series of letters that unknown sources would send to Church officials in 1992 and 1993 accusing McCarrick of pedophilia, were anonymous. She did not want to identify herself or her children, just warn others that McCarrick had “an attraction to boys” by including all events she personally witnessed.

Her fear and anxiety over potential repercussions gave way to anger when “nothing was being done” and her letters seemed to be ignored. The report said no originals or copies of her letters were ever found.

During her interview for the report, she said she had wanted to go public in the early 1990s, but her one son insisted McCarrick’s behavior was only “creepy” and “uncomfortable,” not actual abuse. However, she said, she “regretted every day” not acting more firmly earlier.

The report also goes into detail about the experiences of several seminarians and priests, who also sought to alert people in the Church about their bishop’s behavior.

— Catholic News Service

Archbishop: Report a reminder no one is above the law The Vatican report on Theodore McCarrick is a reminder that no one should have to endure abuse and no one — even a high-ranking clergyman — is above the law, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said in a Nov. 11 statement.

“There is, rightfully, much interest in the Vatican’s comprehensive and historic report on Theodore McCarrick, issued yesterday,” he said. “I am grateful to the courageous abuse survivors who have come forward in this case and others. As we move forward in meaningful and positive ways, the Church needs to face the sins of the past, hold abusers (and those who covered for them) accountable, and make sure children and vulnerable adults are safe.”

Noting he was still closely examining the report, he said, “I am already grateful that the McCarrick report reminds us that no one, whether they be a minor or an adult, whether they be a layperson, seminarian, religious or priest, should have to endure abuse in the Church, and that no one in the Church is above the law.”

Archbishop Hebda said that he is “grateful for the work that has been done in this Archdiocese and nationally to create safer environments and to involve the gifts of the laity in shaping policies and procedures for addressing allegations, ensuring accountability and reestablishing trust.”

I am hoping that the issuance of the report will also be a reminder for us to pray for all who have suffered abuse, as well as for Pope Francis and those collaborating with him to address this wound in our Church and in our world.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda “I will be asking our Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment, working with survivors and experts, to reexamine our protocols to see what more we need to do to remove any remaining obstacles to the reporting of abuse, in particular, abuse of adults who are vulnerable in some way, tragically one of the weaknesses sadly documented in the McCarrick report,” he said. “I am hoping that the issuance of the report will also be a reminder for us to pray for all who have suffered abuse, as well as for Pope Francis and those collaborating with him to address this wound in our Church and in our world.”

— The Catholic Spirit

12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Catholic Charities: Serving those m

By Debbie Musser For The Catholic Spirit

Founding 1869-1920 u1869 A group from Assumption in St. Paul led by the pastor, Benedictine Father Clement Staub, establishes St. Joseph’s German Catholic Orphan Society for children left parentless by hazards of pioneer life, the Civil War and epidemics. In 1877, the society opened St. Joseph’s German Catholic Orphan Asylum in St. Paul, which was staffed by Benedictine sisters. u1878 The Minneapolis Catholic Orphan Asylum (later known as the Catholic Boys Home) opens; operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. u1887 Construction on the iconic “orphanage” building at 46th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis is completed. It is the site of what eventually becomes St. Joseph’s Home for Children, also operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

Expansion 1920-1970 u1920 The Catholic Central Bureau (later Catholic Welfare Services) was established in Minneapolis, as well as the Bureau of Catholic Charities (later known as Catholic Social Service) in St. Paul. They offer family relief, care of aging, child welfare and other critical services. u1960 The St. Paul and Minneapolis orphanages merge into what becomes known as St. Joseph’s Home for Children in Minneapolis; operated by the Benedictines. u1968 Branch I opens, offering meals and daytime services. This marks the beginning of Catholic Charities providing emergency support to those most in need.

Service and advocacy 1970 – 2020 u1977 Catholic Social Service of St. Paul, Catholic Welfare Services in Minneapolis, St. Joseph’s Home for Children and Seton Center consolidate into Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. u1980s A national recession fuels significant growth in Catholic Charities’ work serving the “poorest of the poor,” including refugee resettlement in the wake of the Vietnam War. u1981 The Dorothy Day Center opens in St. Paul as a daytime storefront serving 50 men experiencing homelessness. Nearby Mary Hall is purchased to create a men’s shelter. A women’s shelter is added at Mary Hall in 1989. u1984 Catholic Charities’ Office for Social Justice is established; today it is located in the heart of Dorothy Day Place in downtown St. Paul. u2012 Higher Ground Minneapolis opens, combining emergency and transitional shelter and permanent housing. u2019 Dorothy Day Place — a $100 million twobuilding campus in St. Paul — opens offering shelter, permanent housing and support services and serving 1,000 people per day. u2020 A $70 million, public-private partnership in Minneapolis is building “Exodus 2.0” residence for more than 200 people, including veterans, single adults and people with complex medical conditions.

— Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis

A

former restaurant worker in the Highland Park area of St. Paul, Dawn Folger, 49, found herself without a place to live and without a job.

Beginning in July 2017, Folger stayed at Higher Ground St. Paul’s women’s emergency shelter until January 2019, when she moved onto the fourth floor of the Higher Ground residence. “I have a fairly big room and up here, it’s real quiet,” Folger said. “It feels good to have a space that’s mine.”

Higher Ground St. Paul, which opened in downtown St. Paul in 2017, is the centerpiece of a $100 million Dorothy Day Place housing and social services campus. The largest public-private partnership in housing and social services in Minnesota history, Higher Ground St. Paul was built and is run by Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis — a nonprofit that last year celebrated its 150th anniversary of serving people in need.

“I love that it’s called ‘Higher Ground,’ as Catholic Charities is constantly raising our collective aspirations about how we live out the Gospel,” said Tim Welsh, 54, vice chair of consumer and business banking at U.S. Bank and a Catholic Charities board member. “We must do more for the homeless — we have to raise our sights.”

Dorothy Day Place provides emergency shelter and permanent housing, plus physical, mental and chemical health care services for long-term homeless adults like Folger, many of whom have health challenges or face other barriers to housing. It also offers housing search and placement services, job training, employment counseling, financial and legal support services, internet access, meals, showers, laundry and more.

Catholic Charities has a strong history of meeting community needs for over 150 years, beginning with its first program in 1869, St. Joseph’s German Catholic Orphan Society in St. Paul.

“The program was in response to children in need following the Civil War and the thousands of children who were sent to Minnesota on orphan trains,” said Tim Marx, 64, Catholic Charities president and CEO. The mid-1900s brought an expansion of Catholic Charities’ work to include not only the health and well-being of children, but families, the elderly and those at risk of or experiencing homelessness. By 1977, Catholic Charities had expanded the depth and complexity of services provided to those most in need — regardless of faith, background or circumstance — who increasingly face the effects of racial injustice and trauma.

Catholic Charities has grown into an organization with more than 500 employees that operates 24 hours, seven days a week, serving “those most in need in the darkest days of their lives,” Marx said. “We still have that same core mission and philosophical approach, but have continually adapted to the current needs of the community.”

Now, Catholic Charities is the largest comprehensive social service nonprofit in the Twin Cities. It operates 26 programs from early childhood education to supporting older adults, from mental

HOPE IN ACTION Support the mission of Catholic Charities at 7 p.m. Dec. 3 by joining the online Evening of Hope in Action, a virtual alternative to the annual St. Nicholas Dinner, which has generally drawn more than 1,000 people. The evening will feature a special pre-recorded video for thousands of supporters to watch from their homes and see what 2020 has been like for Catholic Charities. The presentation also will showcase ways the community has taken action to support the nonprofit’s mission.

For more information, go to cctwincities.org/be-the-hope.

health assistance to helping people secure and maintain housing, at 17 locations, plus additional community sites. In its 2019 fiscal year, Catholic Charities served nearly 23,000 men, women, children and families.

The largest service area — individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness — includes the Ramsey County Family Service Center in Maplewood and Higher Ground St. Paul and Higher Ground Minneapolis, encompassing the Dorothy Day Residence and the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation St. Paul Opportunity Center, and the Mary F. Frey Minneapolis Opportunity Center and Hope Street Shelter for homeless youth in Minneapolis, and several other programs.

Additional Catholic Charities programs serve and support the elderly, people with disabilities and children and families, such as assistance with case management for older adults that help them remain independent in their homes, and a day treatment program that offers comprehensive mental health and education services to elementary school children with severe emotional and behavioral challenges.

Mary Ann Sullivan, 74, worked at

Catholic Charities for 30 years, retiring a vice president for program operations in 2015. “The community needs were strong, but we were constantly evaluatin our programs to make sure we weren’t duplicating work already being done so that we could really have an impact whe it was needed most,” she said.

“We listened to the people being serve learned from our frontline staff and tried to make sure that our work achieved outcomes,” Sullivan said. “That’s how w moved away from programs like prenata care and adoption work into housing an racial justice, as those needs kept coming stronger and stronger.”

What makes Catholic Charities “Catholic” is its foundation: Catholic social teaching.

“That is the guidepost to everything w do; we believe every human that walks through our door is made in the image o God and deserves to be treated with dignity,” said Umo Udo, 57, Catholic Charities director of spiritual care. Udo said she works with clients to help them discover and clarify their own self-worth values and spirituality through values formation and empowerment groups, Bible studies, one-on-one consultations

NOVEMBER 19, 2020 • 13

most in need for 150 years

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FAR LEFT Two women work in a Catholic Charities kitchen. The nonprofit now serves 1 million meals a year to people in need.

Interview by Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

LOWER LEFT William Reiling purchased the building that housed Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul in 1984, three years after it first opened as a storefront and shared space with an autobody shop and a business office. With demand for services increasing, Reiling offered the entire property at favorable lease terms to Catholic Charities until the nonprofit could purchase the building. In 1985, a fundraising campaign was launched to purchase, renovate and expand the property.

Tim Marx, 64, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis for the past 10 years, will become president emeritus and focus on special projects for the nonprofit next year.

A native of Detroit Lakes and lifelong Catholic who grew up in Rochester, Marx went on to become a lawyer, city attorney and deputy mayor of St. Paul, leader of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency and of a nonprofit housing TIM MARX and community development organization in New York City, before joining Catholic Charities. A member of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, Marx said he wants to spend more time with family and friends, and discern what, quoting a Jewish rabbi, he can do for “God’s world with God’s time.” The conversation is edited for length and clarity.

COURTESY CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF ST. PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS

Q

LEFT Men and boys hoist the sign in 1900 for the orphanage in St. Paul, which offered accommodations for 127 children.

LOWER FAR LEFT Catholic Charities’ adoption program, which began in the early 1900s and has since been discontinued, brought many children into caring families.

LEFT Gardening in the 1960s with several children under the care of Catholic Charities.

and grief support groups.

“Catholic social teaching to Catholic Charities is like the legs of a table; without the legs, it’s not a table,” Udo said. “Every client that comes to us has some level of trauma, and everything that we do we have to look at through that lens.”

Udo describes Catholic Charities as “providing hope even when it’s all stuck. I had a male client who had experienced so many losses, you couldn’t even believe. A lot of men don’t process grief, and when it’s too much to bear, they turn to drugs or alcohol. That was his demise.”

“He had a long beard and was quite a sight, but I ignored all of that, talked to him and listened,” Udo said. “His anger and despair began to dissipate. At the end, he asked if I could come back, which was significant as he was suicidal. ... He had been given hope.”

Two weeks later, Udo returned and barely recognized the man. “He’d shaved his beard, cleaned up and looked 10 years younger,” she said. “He told me he’d heard of a place that gives clothes and food to people in need, and that he was going to volunteer there. Seeing this man unravel and come up from that abyss of hopelessness made for a very good day.”

Marx reflects on career, encourages more public support for those in need

Today’s need to confront the public health and economic implications of the novel coronavirus pandemic as well as the nation’s racial reckoning in the wake of the May 25 police-involved death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an African American, provide unique challenges and opportunities for Catholic Charities.

“Our challenge is how to really manifest spaces and places where people feel like they’re not only being provided opportunity, but an opportunity to see themselves and experience hope that’s bigger and brighter than just a handout,” said T. Mychael Rambo, a theater professional, adjunct University of Minnesota professor, Catholic Charities board member and past client who lived at the Dorothy Day homeless shelter in St. Paul for a few months in 1990 during a time of transition and need in his life.

“Dorothy Day was a strong tower for me. I found a safe space to be and collect my thoughts and at the same time, receive well-needed resources about how to transition out of there,” Rambo said.

Catholic Charities is working diligently to be a safe and healthy shelter and meal provider in the midst of COVID-19 and to meet the growing needs. This past year, the organization provided 530,000 nights of shelter and housing, and 1 million meals, thanks to 16,000 donors, more than 4,000 volunteers contributing 190,000 hours of service, and more than 500 staff members working around the clock.

Approximately 36% of Catholic Charities revenue comes from private contributions.

“We receive financial and volunteer support from Catholics, parishes and many other faith organizations that are surprisingly diverse,” Marx said. “We urge our supporters to join us as advocates as well, based on that Catholic social teaching foundation for the common good, to mix ourselves up in the social and political debate that matters so much.”

When you first arrived at Catholic Charities in 2011, how would you describe it as an organization?

A I would say Catholic Charities was in

flux, with a significant number of leadership transitions in a short period of time, and the community was in transition as it was coming out of but still mired in the Great Recession, and there was a great political divide at the state level. … My first job at Catholic Charities was to close on Higher Ground Minneapolis (homeless shelter and transitional and permanent housing), bring it to fruition so it could open in the spring of 2012, which it did, which was then the launching pad and the model for Dorothy Day Place (a similar complex in St. Paul that opened in 2017).

Q Has housing been a big part of Catholic Charities since it was founded?

A The major movement of Catholic

Charities into housing and shelter really has occurred over the last 25 years, and it is really coincident with Tracy Berglund (senior director of Housing Stability) joining the organization. We had some shelters and some other housing-related programs … (but) that’s when our modern housing program started.

Q What did Berglund see that keyed

her into that need? Why the housing aspect?

A This also coincided with increased

homelessness as a much more, unfortunately, chronic condition in our community. And Catholic Charities … responds to the needs of those most in need. I think about the history of homelessness, how it is a relatively modern, unfortunate phenomenon in this region and across the country.

Q As you’ve guided Catholic

Charities, how has your faith entered into what you do?

A Faith has been central to what I’ve

done, forever. Catholic Charities is not unique to that. Catholic Charities provided a unique opportunity because of its foundation in Catholic social teaching. To have my day job married to my personal passion and faith, that’s a rare and lucky opportunity and something upon which I have relied significantly, quite frankly, particularly in these last several months with COVID and the economic turmoil and the aftermath of the (Minneapolis police custody death of African American) George Floyd.

And I also say that there are things that have happened at Catholic Charities that advanced in ways that to me were not fully explainable through connect the dots, or logic. And so, I believe that was faith in God at work.

Q Please share one of those.

A I look back at many of the challenges

which Dorothy Day Place confronted — at the Legislature, in various transactions to get it to the scale that it needed to be, in raising $40 million of private funding in two years. There were periods when it looked like it just wasn’t going to happen, for any number of reasons. And all of a sudden you wake up and something had happened, and it wasn’t fully explainable. Why this (person), without much connection to the organization, calls and says, “How can I give $1 million to this?” Circumstances like that. There’s more at work there than human hands.

Q You’ve talked recently of this time

as an inflection point for the country and for Catholic Charities. Can you describe what that means to you?

A I think the first section of Pope

Francis’ (recent encyclical) “Fratelli Tutti,” Chapter One, “Dark Clouds Over A Closed World,” describes it well.

COVID. A false populism. Is there a commitment to human dignity and structuring our laws and political systems to advance human dignity, unselfishness, recognizing that racism is a scourge, not something to be advantaged for political gain? Those dark clouds are circling our country and our world, and we have to find a way to let the sun shine through.

Q How is it an inflection point for Catholic Charities?

A For all those same reasons. We serve

and advocate for those most in need.

And those conditions, pointed to by the pope, are pushing against that, are making it more difficult. It’s swimming upstream or climbing up a hill with an extra 20 pounds in the backpack and your CamelBak is leaking. If this work is going to continue, it has to be much more widely supported by the public sector. COVID and George Floyd provide a tremendous opportunity to go back and heal racial divisions, to go back and pay attention to public health and recognize that when there is a significant event in our society, those who get impacted most negatively are the poor and disenfranchised, people of color, and that’s not the way it should be. How do we fix that? How do we go back to better?

14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

FAITH+CULTURE Local priest-composer ‘honored and humbled’ by Biden quoting his ‘On Eagle’s Wings’

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit

embark on the work that God and history has called upon us to do.”

Father Joncas, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis s Father Michael Joncas watched ordained in 1980, said he listened to Joe Biden’s victory speech Biden’s words with “amazement,” but he Nov. 7, he was amazed to hear wasn’t entirely surprised. “He’s actually the presumed president-elect talk about quoted it other times,” he said. One other a hymn “close to his heart” and speaking instance was at the funeral of George the refrain of “On Eagle’s Wings”: “And Floyd, a Black man who died in police he will raise you up on eagle’s wings / custody in Minneapolis May 25, Bear you on the breath of dawn / Make attracting international attention. Biden you to shine like the sun / And hold you spoke the hymn’s refrain in a video in the palm of his hand.”

Father Joncas wrote those lines 44 years message for the funeral in Houston.

Father Joncas, 68, plans to send a letter ago, when he was 25 years old. And while to Biden. Father Joncas shared with a he’s composed scores of hymns since, none have risen to the popular heights of laugh that his sister thinks he should ask for family tickets to the inauguration.

“On Eagle’s Wings.” It’s been translated While “On Eagle’s Wings” has into Italian, Spanish, Polish and other languages. Beyond its use at Sunday Mass, sustained popularity in Catholic and broader Christian worship, the hymn it’s a funeral staple, and in 2015, it was isn’t Father Joncas’ favorite. performed at the funeral of opera great Luciano Pavarotti.

“For most composers, their favorite As to its inclusion in Biden’s speech, song is the latest one they’ve written,” he Father Joncas echoed the former vice said. “But I will say this: I’m not ashamed president’s own words about his election of it (“On Eagle’s Wings), but there are to the nation’s highest office: “I’m other pieces that personally I’m much honored and humbled.” more attracted to. Having said that, In the speech, Biden said that he began though, no composer can ever predict what’s going to touch people’s hearts. So, thinking about the hymn during the last this has, and I’m happy about that.” days of his election campaign, noting, “It means a lot to me and my family, An artist-in-residence and research particularly my deceased son, Beau.” fellow in Catholic Studies at the Beau Biden died May 30, 2015, at age 46 University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, of brain cancer. “On Eagle’s Wings” was Father Joncas thinks both the text and sung during Communion at his funeral at the musical composition play roles in St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in the way it pulls at listeners’ heartstrings.

Wilmington, Delaware.

And it might particularly have American resonance, he noted. In addition to the The hymn “captures the faith that eagle being the national bird, he pointed sustains me and which I believe sustains to Native American symbolism. He said America, and I hope it can provide some that it’s a popular hymn for cadets at comfort and solace to 230,000 Americans the U.S. Air Force Academy Chapel in who have lost a loved one to this terrible Colorado Springs, Colorado. virus this year. My heart goes out to each and every one of you. Hopefully this “Textually, I think the image of ‘eagle’ hymn gives you solace as well,” Joe Biden is really grounded in American culture,” said in his speech. he said. “Because the eagle’s our national He spoke the refrain, adding, “And symbol, that connects with people, too.”

CathSpGC-2020A.qxp_Layout 1 3/25/20 1:25 PM Pag now together, on eagle’s wings, we The words are from Scripture, another

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DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Father Michael Joncas sits in front of his piano at his St. Paul residence near the University of St. Thomas. point of connection. They’re drawn from Psalm 91, the book of Exodus’ 19th chapter, and the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13. Musically, the song “rises and rises and rises and falls to a conclusion,” mirroring the imagery of an eagle’s flight.

But, the song isn’t particularly easy to sing, Father Joncas said. “The refrain especially is very, very wide, from a low ‘A’ to a high ‘E.’” “And honestly,” he added with a laugh, “that’s the same range as the National Anthem, and the National Anthem is pretty hard to sing, too.”

Father Joncas was inspired to write the song after tragedy hit a friend from seminary. Father Joncas wasn’t a seminarian at the time: After studying at the archdiocese’s high school seminary Nazareth Hall and then at The St. Paul Seminary, he spent some years out of seminary before completing his studies and being ordained. In 1976, he was visiting a friend studying at The Catholic University of America’s Theological College in Washington, D.C., when the two returned from dinner to learn that the friend’s father had died of a heart attack. Father Joncas returned to Minnesota and, in an effort to provide comfort, wrote “On Eagle’s Wings” at his mother’s kitchen table.

That friend was the future Father Douglas Hall, a priest of the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska. Father Joncas performed the hymn on guitar at the wake of Father Hall’s father, and then — at the family’s invitation — the next day at the funeral. And then, in December 2018, he played it at the wake and funeral of Father Hall, a retired Air Force

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chaplain who died at age 68.

Father Joncas didn’t record and publish the piece until 1979, but it was the title track of the album. “It ended up going places that I never would have guessed,” he said. “I was kind of heartened that it moved beyond the Catholic auspices to the Christian world. … What was absolutely amazing to me is that it started to enter the civic world.”

He noted a particular instance: In April 1995, at a memorial for the Oklahoma City bombing victims attended by both President Bill Clinton and the Rev. Billy Graham, Susan Powell, an Oklahoman and former Miss America, sang the hymn.

“From that point on, I think it started to connect with civic issues, and not just the Church and prayer issues,” Father Joncas said.

In response to Biden’s Nov. 7 speech, pop singer Lana del Rey shared a video on Instagram Nov. 8 of her singing the refrain of “On Eagle’s Wings.” She said she was recording a new album in the studio but took a break to watch Biden’s speech. “He mentioned at the end of it a hymn that he hoped gave Americans hope,” she wrote, “so I thought I would just give a little version of that.”

Father Joncas said he is close to completing his current project, setting to music all of the responsorial hymns in the Church’s three-year cycle of readings.

But he’s also still marking the success of his recent composition “Shelter Me,” which he wrote in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“From my perspective, that’s only second now to ‘On Eagle’s Wings,’” he said. “It’s taken off like crazy.”

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NOVEMBER 19, 2020

FAITH+CULTURE

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15

St. Paul parish rooted in Black Catholic ministry

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

I

n a year when the quest for racial justice reached center stage locally and nationally, one parish in St. Paul has continued its mission set in the late 1800s: to reach out and be the faith home for African American Catholics. St. Peter Claver parish also welcomes Catholics of all races and ethnic backgrounds, as reflected in the diversity of its parishioners, including white and Asian worshippers, and large numbers of African immigrants.

One parishioner, Loralean Jordan, lauds the parish’s social justice ministry, which she said has always been a critical part of the parish.

The parish held a prayer service for justice and peace in 2016, she said, following the shooting death of 32-year-old African American Philando Castile by a police officer. The prayer service has become an annual event.

The officer-involved death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an African American, in May “just accentuated the things that we were already doing as a parish,” Jordan said.

“We continue to … lift up racial justice in our Church and in our world as best we can,” said Father Erich Rutten, the parish’s pastor, who has led the congregation since 2016.

“Members of this parish have really, truly been leaders in our archdiocese, in the archdiocesan Commission for Black Catholics for many, many years (and) in terms of our representation at the national Black Catholic Congress every five years,” he said.

Father Rutten also is proud of the parish’s “ministry of hospitality.” “We have a well-deserved reputation for (being) a welcoming place for anyone who walks through the door,” he said. “And people feel a spirit here … (and) very little pretense.”

The parish’s roots go back to 1888, the year Bishop John Ireland was elevated from bishop to archbishop of St. Paul, and Jesuit Father Peter Claver was elevated to sainthood. In 1888, the archbishop also named St. Peter Claver patron for a local congregation of Black converts.

Ordained a priest in 1861, then-Father Ireland held classes after the Civil War about the Catholic faith for Blacks who attended the former Cathedral of St. Paul and other nearby churches. Seeking more converts, he organized a mission in a rented Swedenborgian church across from Rice Park. Those converts soon became charter members of a new congregation, St. Peter Claver.

As numbers grew, the parish built a church near the corner of Farrington Street and Aurora Avenue in 1892, the same year the parish was officially formed.

One beloved pastor in the parish’s history was Father Stephen Theobald, who was born in British Guyana in 1874. Few seminaries accepted students of color at the turn of the century, but St. Paul Seminary accepted Theobald in 1906 and he was ordained for the Diocese of St. Paul in 1910.

An early civil rights advocate, Archbishop Ireland reportedly often said, “There is no room for prejudice in Christianity!”

After Father Theobald’s ordination, he served briefly as assistant priest at the Cathedral of St. Paul and canonical advisor to Archbishop Ireland. He also was pastor of St. Peter Claver, and was recognized nationally for his writings and lectures on civil rights.

Father Rutten said the parish was founded to support the Black Catholic community in the Twin Cities.

Most parishes were very much neighborhood parishes then, he said, with the original St. Peter Claver location serving African Americans living in St. Paul’s former Rondo neighborhood.

In addition to family homes, Rondo served as the business and cultural center of St. Paul’s African American community. The parish completed its present church at 375 Oxford St. in 1957, shortly after construction of Interstate-94 began in 1956.

Government officials reportedly chose the specific I-94 route based on efficiency in connecting downtown St. Paul with downtown Minneapolis. Unfortunately, it cut the Rondo neighborhood in half, fragmenting the community, its economics and families, Father Rutten said.

The neighborhood was in trauma, he said, because

LEFT Father Erich Rutten, pastor of St. Peter Claver in St. Paul, talks with parishioner Eveline Mba, right, and her son, Elvin, after Mass Nov. 8.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

November is Black Catholic History Month

BELOW Members of the St. Peter Claver choir, which was organized around 1896, are pictured on the steps of the church’s former location at Aurora Avenue and Farrington Street.

COURTESY ARCHDIOCESAN ARCHIVES

so many people lost their homes, were forced to move, received pennies on the dollar for their homes and needed to start over. “There was lots of turmoil,” he said, “and I imagine that the parish … was a source of refuge or, at least, social and emotional, spiritual support during a difficult time.”

According to information published by the Minnesota Historical Society, one in eight African Americans in St. Paul lost a home to I-94, and many businesses never reopened.

Elaine Benner-Minus, 71, grew up in a large house in Rondo that her grandmother bought around 1924.

Benner-Minus’ mother was determined not to have her home razed. “My parents had it picked up and moved to the doorstep of the church,” Benner-Minus said. Her sister lives in the family home today.

Benner-Minus is a third-generation member of St. Peter Claver. Her daughter, Ericka, and her children mark generations four and five. Both women describe the parish simply as “home.”

One reason Benner-Minus is so attached to her parish is the reminders it holds of her family’s connections.

“Everything about (it) has been touched by some family member,” she said. Her mother designed the altar and had the vision for embellishing the crucifix. “And she was one of the leaders of almost every committee that they had,” Benner-Minus said. When she looks at the school, she sees her mother’s “handiwork,” too, because her mother pushed for it to be established.

Jordan said she didn’t know where she would be living when she moved to Minnesota 20 years ago, but she knew where she’d go to church. Having previously visited St. Peter Claver parish at a friend’s recommendation, she said, “I just felt welcomed and it felt like home.”

Jordan said the faithful will find a rainbow of people at St. Peter Claver parish. “St. Peter Claver is so unique in our demographics and … we worship in its traditional African-American style,” she said. “When I was chair of the parish council, I got more business done during the (sign) of peace,” she said with a laugh.

Then after Mass, people linger for coffee “and talk and catch up and make connections,” Jordan said.

Annie Porbeni, 48, represents the changing demographics at St. Peter Claver. She emigrated from Nigeria about 17 years ago.

She and her husband and their three children live in Woodbury near “fantastic churches,” but she wanted a church where her children could meet kids that look like them. A bonus for her is St. Peter Claver’s Black culture and history.

Having African Americans, Caucasians and biracial families was important to her, her husband and children, she said, as well as the parish’s different style of worship — “and knowing that … we’re able to add value to the space that we find ourselves,” she said, “but also we are taking things … that truly enrich our souls.”

St. Peter Claver today is no longer a neighborhood parish, Father Rutten said, but a destination parish.

“We’re drawing people from all over the metro.”

St. Leonard of Port Maurice was established in 1940 to serve African American Catholics in Minneapolis.

Today, several parishes in the archdiocese serve large Black communities, including Ascension in north Minneapolis (which incorporated St. Philip in 2011) and St. Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center.

“St. Alphonsus is probably far and away right now what you might call the most significant Black Catholic parish — again, largely African immigrant,” he said.

“We (St. Peter Claver) probably still to this day would be considered the strongest example of an African American parish.”

About 16 years ago, Meg Hobday and her husband, both white, were “church shopping.” They live in a predominantly white neighborhood in St. Paul and wanted to connect with more people from different backgrounds. Shopping stopped when her sister invited her to a Thanksgiving Mass at St. Peter Claver.

“The Mass was a really spiritual experience,” she said.

“The people were so warm and welcoming. And I was struck by the racial diversity in the church, which I had never experienced at a church in my life. So, I knew that’s what I needed.”

Hobday participates in the church’s social justice committee. She noted its book series discussions (curtailed somewhat by COVID-19) and its work with racial justice. Over the past year, Hobday said a main focus of the committee was ministry to those who have been incarcerated, and the parish offers a support group for families impacted by incarceration. Before this year’s presidential election, a lot of attention was given to getting out the vote, Hobday added, including information about how, when and where to vote.

The big vision of Church that Catholics all need, Father Rutten said, especially in the modern era, is truly a “catholic” vision, a vision of everybody. “And the Church has been really clear that enculturation is not only acceptable, but an important part of the life of our faith,” he said.

People celebrate their Catholic faith coming out of who they are, he said, and that doesn’t mean its expressions will look the same.

“The Church is always seeking unity,” he said, “but the Church has never demanded uniformity.”

FAITH+CULTURE

16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Supreme Court seems ready to let Affordable Care Act stand

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service

O

n Nov. 10, when the fate of the Affordable Care Act faced the Supreme Court for the third time since it was signed into law 10 years ago, the justices seemed willing to leave the bulk of the law intact even if they found one part of it to be unconstitutional.

The possible way forward during the two-hour oral arguments by teleconference was set by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The two justices repeatedly stressed that they didn’t see how it was necessary to strike down the entire health care law even if its individual mandate, requiring each person to buy health insurance, was invalidated.

Roberts stressed that the move by Congress three years ago to drop the penalty for not buying health insurance did not indicate its intent to do away with the entire health care legislation.

“I think it’s hard for you to argue Congress intended the entire act to fall if the mandate was struck down if the same Congress that lowered the tax penalty to zero did not even try to repeal the rest of the act,” he said. Roberts also pointed out that Congress did not try to kill the entire law when it eliminated the tax penalty. “They wanted the court to do that, but that’s not our job.”

The case before the court, California v. Texas, was three pronged. It examined whether the challengers — 18 Republican states and two individuals — even

had the legal standing to bring this case forward. The justices also had to determine if changes made to the health care law by Congress in 2017 made the individual mandate unconstitutional, and if so, if that part of the law could be separated out or if the entire ACA would need to be struck down.

The ACA, which became law in 2010 and was fully implemented in 2015, survived its battles with the high court twice before, in 2012 and 2015. This year’s challenge to the law also was backed by President Donald Trump’s administration. The president has frequently said he hopes the court would throw out Obamacare in its entirety.

The stakes were high in this year’s arguments. Outside the court on the warm November morning, protesters held signs urging the court to keep the ACA. The fear the law might be struck down, amid a pandemic, intensified during the confirmation hearings for Justice Amy Coney Barrett when Democratic senators raised suspicion that she could potentially vote to strike it down.

The legislation’s repeat visit to the Supreme Court had Justice Samuel Alito quoting the Yogi Berra phrase: “It seems like deja vu all over again.”

But he also said a sea change had occurred since prior arguments before the court due to Congress’ action on the individual insurance requirement.

“In the first case, there was a strong reason to believe the individual mandate was ... essential to keep the plane flying.

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Now the part has been taken out and the plane has not crashed,” he said. “How would we explain why the individual mandate in its present form is essential to the operation of the act?”

Striking down the law would leave 20 million Americans uninsured, according to estimates from the Urban Institute.

The biggest loss would be for lowincome adults eligible for Medicaid under the law after most states expanded the program to include them. Millions of other Americans would lose the private insurance plans they enrolled in via the ACA marketplaces, including young adults who had been eligible to stay on their parents’ plans until they turned 26.

Another loss would be the health care law’s protections of preexisting conditions. Trump has said he would preserve that protection if the law was struck down, but he never offered any details on how that would happen.

The day before the case was argued before the court, Notre Dame Law School professor Richard Garnett, director of the school’s Program on Church, State and Society, said it was unlikely the court would call the ACA unconstitutional.

He also said there was “very little chance that a majority of the justices will conclude” Congress’ move to take away the penalty for individuals who did not buy insurance would undo the entire health care legislation.

Since 2010, the Catholic Church has had a complicated relationship with the health care law. Catholic hospitals have long emphasized the poor and vulnerable

must have access to health care, but Church leaders have objected to the law’s contraceptive mandate, requiring that employee health insurance plans provide contraceptive coverage.

The Catholic Health Association of the United States, which includes more than 2,200 Catholic hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities, systems, sponsors and related organizations, filed a brief in support of the petitioners in this case. The brief stressed that CHA has “witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of the lack of affordable health insurance and health care on vulnerable members of our society.”

In a Sept. 9 statement, Mercy Sister Mary Haddad, the organization’s president and CEO, urged the court to uphold the current law, saying that striking it down would be devastating to millions of Americans, including those with COVID-19.

“The pain of repeal would be borne by some of the most vulnerable in our society — pregnant women, racial minorities, and low-income individuals and families,” she added Sister Haddad also emphasized that a ruling on one part of the law should not impact the law as a whole.

“We strongly urge the court to rule that the individual mandate is severable,” she said, “as clearly intended by Congress when it eliminated the individual mandate penalty but did not repeal the entire ACA.” A decision on this case will be issued next year.

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17

FROMAGETOAGE

(Almost) reaching a century Founder of ‘Old Goats’ marks milestone with rural birthday bash

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

H

ugh O’Kane surrounded himself with family and friends for his 100th birthday party Aug. 30 at St. Rose of Lima south of St. Paul near Kenyon. COVID-19 restrictions did not deter this lifelong Catholic, who recently formed a group for elderly men called Old Goats after hearing about their loneliness and lack of fellowship with other men their age.

The gathering a day after his birthday for a tour of the historic church of his upbringing, followed by a party nearby at his family farm, was robust. And, by O’Kane’s estimation, a good time was had by all.

Here’s a humorous twist: O’Kane did not turn 100 this year. That mark won’t be reached for another decade. At first, he resisted having a party at all. Then, he thought it would be fun to inject some humor by turning it into a triple-digit celebration. People followed his lead and played along.

“That was my idea,” O’Kane said about making it a 100th birthday party instead of 90th. “I’m Irish. There’s a lot more (birthday) presents when you reach 100 than when you reach 90. And so, for the Irish: better to be safe than sorry. So, celebrate the 100th now. It’s just a bunch of blarney.”

Amid the fun, there was one awkward moment. “Two people gave me hundreddollar bills,” he said. “I still don’t know how to handle that.”

For O’Kane and the estimated 100 guests that day, the party was a chance to stir memories of the historic church. It was completed in 1878 with lots of help from O’Kane families living nearby, who supplied all the limestone used for the building’s exterior. Hugh O’Kane, who now lives in the Twin Cities and belongs to St. Joseph in West St. Paul, tries to get

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Hugh O’Kane goes back to his roots whenever he visits the cemetery at St. Rose of Lima near Kenyon. After his death, he will be buried there next to his late wife, Monica. The hat he wears symbolizes his military service in the 1950s. down to the area, called Cherry Grove Township, about every two months.

He stops at the church, which closed in 1961, and then visits his 80-acre farm just a few miles away.

His final resting place will be at St. Rose, in the church cemetery located adjacent to the church. The O’Kane name can be found on many tombstones, and Hugh will someday take his place beside his wife, Monica, who died in 2011 and is buried there.

Ancestors and relatives buried at this cemetery go back at least three generations, and Hugh either has met them or knows their stories.

For him, childhood memories are a mixture of farm chores and church events, including Sunday Masses which Hugh, second youngest of eight, attended with his siblings and parents, John and Theresa.

“My dad rang the bell to start the Mass, and he picked up the collection (during the offertory), and he was a trustee,” O’Kane said. “My dad would always have to come and start the furnace (during the

winter) on Saturday afternoon to have heat on Sunday morning. And, I’d come up many times with him on Saturdays to start the furnace.”

The O’Kane name has been a big part of the church’s history, with the limestone coming from the farm of Thomas O’Kane, Hugh’s uncle. Another relative, Samuel Tunks, was a stonemason who laid the stone blocks for the church with other men of the parish.

The details of the church construction, as well as stories, letters and photos going all the way up to the present, are contained in a book called “St. Rose of Lima: Celebrating 140 years.” Photos of Hugh made the pages of the book, along with some of his reflections. Though the church is closed, events such as weddings still take place there, with photos in the book of nuptials as recent as 2014.

After a childhood on the farm that he called “absolutely fantastic,” Hugh moved to St. Paul after graduating from high school in 1948. He and Monica married in 1954 at St. Matthew in St. Paul, and raised eight children. Seven

currently live in the Twin Cities, and Hugh lives with one of them today.

People might think that, having such strong roots in Cherry Grove, O’Kane would be somewhat of a homebody.

But he is just the opposite. He owns land in rural South Dakota, and goes there regularly. He also has, on a whim, decided to take longer drives and even flights to other countries. Sometimes, his children can’t keep track of him.

“He doesn’t let any grass grow under his feet, that’s for sure,” said his son, Joe O’Kane, the third youngest. “I’m a bachelor, just like him. So, I get the calls when he wants to travel.”

Such a call came a year ago when Hugh got an itch to travel to the country of his ancestry.

“He called me and said, ‘What are you doing?’” Joe recalled. “I said, ‘Well, I’m working. What are you doing?’ He said, ‘I’m going to go to Ireland next week.

Do you want to go?’ I said, ‘No.’ He’s charming, but he has some ADHD that’s pretty powerful.”

Joe reconsidered after talking to a friend who gave him this advice: “Well, you never know. He might tip over (die) tomorrow, so you’d better go with him.”

It ended up being a compromise. Hugh went for 16 days, and Joe went for seven.

They looked, but they never felt entirely satisfied that they found the area their ancestors had called home.

Retired since 1995 from his job in sales, Hugh maintains an active lifestyle.

He makes rosaries, which he hands out freely. He estimates he has made about 2,000, and hopes to make 200 more “before I die.” Spontaneous thoughts often turn into productive endeavors.

That’s how the Old Goats group came about. Five years ago, he joined St. Joseph parish and noticed a need for a fellowship group for elderly men. So, he started a weekly group.

Such energy and passion for life has at least one of his children believing he will make it to his real 100th birthday.

Looking ahead to the next decade, Joe O’Kane said of his father: “Well, I don’t think he’s tipping over” anytime soon.

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18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FROMAGETOAGE

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Those who accompany the dying inspired by ‘Samaritanus bonus’

By Chaz Muth Catholic News Service

M

uch attention was given to Church teaching on assisted suicide and euthanasia when the Vatican released its Sept. 22 letter “‘Samaritanus bonus,’ on the Care of Persons in the Critical and Terminal Phases of Life,” but Sister Maureen Weiss focused on the document’s guidance on accompanying the dying, a key component to her vocation.

Sister Maureen entered religious life in 1968, took her final vows as a woman religious with the Little Sisters of the Poor in 1978, became a nurse, and in a community that cares for the elderly poor, she has accompanied hundreds of men and women at the end of their earthly lives.

“The Church wants people not to be abandoned during this moment,” she told Catholic News Service shortly after the 25-page letter “Samaritanus bonus” was released by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. “We accompany a baby at birth and at baptism. My community makes sure we’re carrying them to eternity. That is the journey of our life.”

Calling “Samaritanus bonus” a “beautiful document,” Sister Maureen — who most recently was the administrator and mother superior of her community’s Jeanne Jugan Residence for the elderly poor in Somerville, Massachusetts, before it was sold to the Visiting Nurse Association earlier this year — was particularly moved by the passage that

says Christians must “know how to stay, to keep vigil, with those who suffer the anguish of death, to ‘console’ them, to be with them in their loneliness, to be an ‘abiding with’ that can instill hope.”

The Little Sisters of the Poor keep vigil with their residents when they sense the end of their life is approaching and they fill that time with joy, prayer, song, silence, reconciliation and forgiveness, said Sister Maria Lourdes, who currently serves at the Little Sisters of the Poor Jeanne Jugan Residence assisted living community in Baltimore.

“When they are drawing close to the end of their life, that’s a sacred moment,” Sister Maria said. “That soul needs support. It’s why we keep vigil.”

The thought of being with someone as they die sometimes stirs fear, especially among those who haven’t witnessed death before, Sister Maria said, acknowledging that she was afraid the first time she accompanied a resident’s end of life.

“But, watching the sisters praying with that resident, I realized it was a sacred moment and it eased my fear,” she said.

“What an honor and gift to be there when that last breath is offered. It gives me chills. That is the closest to eternity we’ll ever get in this world. Her first breath in eternal life.”

“Samaritanus bonus” — whose title means “The Good Samaritan” and which was approved by Pope Francis before its release — reminds Christians that Mary remained at the foot of the cross as Jesus

took his last breath in his physical body.

“In this way, we can see the intrinsic link between what the document says about (Jesus’ passion) and compassion — our need to get involved personally with the dying,” said Mark Therrien, assistant professor of dogmatic theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois. “I think that its major contribution is to emphasize the necessarily spiritual dimension of medical care.”

Though the Church does approve of pain medication to help ease the suffering for terminal patients, this most recent document emphasizes the dose should not be enough to hasten death.

Though it’s the mission for those who keep vigil to make the dying as comfortable as possible, even with the use of pain medication, sometimes they can’t take all of the suffering away, and Sister Patrice Ormerod — who serves at the Little Sisters of the Poor Holy Family Home in Philadelphia — said witnessing that can be difficult.

“To see a person suffer brings us to redemptive suffering,” said Sister Patrice, but she emphasized that comfort is the main concern for a dying resident.

“Maybe for some reason our Lord is asking a person to have a deeper share in his passion through their suffering. There is an unexplainable peace in suffering and in the joy of being one with him.”

From the Christian perspective, then, to care for the dying is ultimately a way of participating in the ministry of Jesus

himself as he continues to suffer in the least of his members here on earth, Therrien said.

Sister Kathleen Murphy — who serves at the Little Sisters of the Poor Holy Family Home in Philadelphia — said in reading “Samaritanus bonus,” “I also valued the emphasis on having a ‘heart that sees’ and not losing ‘that personal touch’ in our present age of advanced therapeutics.”

Although she has accompanied many residents through their journey to eternal life, she said it has never become routine, and the coronavirus pandemic has presented even more challenges for the dying in their final days.

“I was just with one of our residents as she was dying with COVID-19, and the safety precautions were burdensome, to say the least,” Sister Kathleen said. “It was strenuous to try to keep her family connected by telephone and to try to communicate with her myself through a mask and face shield. I held her hand with my gloved hand and prayed and sang short refrains with a muffled voice.”

She added: “I certainly feel privileged to be present as someone is nearing the threshold of eternity. I consider it an honor to share this sacred time with dying residents and their families.

Sometimes I’m awed at the thought, ‘I’m the last face she saw before seeing the face of God!’” Editor’s note: The Little Sisters of the Poor serve the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis at their Holy Family Residence in St. Paul. To learn more, visit littlesistersofthepoorstpaul.org.

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FROMAGETOAGE

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19

Inaugural permanent deacon reflects on his ministry

By Debbie Musser For The Catholic Spirit

DID YOU KNOW

I

n August 1969, 10 men from across the U.S. began their journey at St. John’s Seminary in Collegeville to become permanent deacons — at the site of the first permanent diaconate study center in the country.

The last surviving member of that inaugural class of candidates, Deacon Tom Kasbohm of Brooklyn Center — at the time a husband, father of 10 and full-time civil service employee — recalls that unique experience.“I was grateful, hopeful and excited that this was the beginning of a new era, where there would be a new and deeper way to serve the people of the Catholic Church,” said Deacon Kasbohm, 87, who served as a permanent deacon for more than 50 years, beginning in Chicago and then in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “But I also felt a great responsibility, participating in bringing back the diaconate.”

“Today for me, the significance of being the last member of that first class is minor; continuing to bring God’s word to other people is the major significance,” he said. “If I had the opportunity to serve in this way again for another 50 years, I would in a heartbeat.”

Permanent deacons existed in the early centuries of the Catholic Church.

Eventually, the permanent diaconate was replaced by transitional deacons, men on their way to the priesthood.

In 1967, after the Second Vatican Council, Pope St. Paul VI re-established the permanent diaconate, allowing both single and married men to be ordained to the ministry; the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (forerunner to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) gave its approval for the U.S. in 1969.

“At the time, some people thought that restoring permanent deacons was done because of the shortage of priests,” Deacon Kasbohm said. “But deacons can’t say Mass or hear confessions. The need was for deacons to be with the people and minister in a variety of ways. That’s the special role deacons have — serving.”

A graduate of DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, Deacon Kasbohm earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1954, followed by a master’s degree in education administration from Roosevelt University in Chicago. After serving in the Air Force as a pilot and instructor pilot, he began a career in civil service in Chicago as an education specialist for the Navy, covering a five-state area.

“As a Navy recruiter, I visited many high schools and colleges, giving qualification exams to students and meeting with their parents,” he said.

All the while, he and his wife, Joan, were busy raising a young family, which grew to five daughters and five sons.

His call to become a deacon is a vivid memory. “I was in the Great Lakes Naval Hospital outside of Chicago, recovering from a multiple sclerosis attack, when the Navy chaplain, Father John O’Connor — a captain who later became Archbishop of New York and then Cardinal O’Connor — brought me Communion and left a pamphlet outlining the requirements to become a deacon in the U.S.,” Deacon Kasbohm said.

“I had been serving the Church all

u Deacon comes from the Greek word “diakonos,” which means “servant.” u According to the 2020 Official Catholic Directory, there are 209 permanent deacons in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, including 163 in active service.

The same source lists 18,676 permanent deacons in the United States.

Deacon Schramer said. “And when he moved into St. Therese of New Hope, their chaplain had him involved in ministry there as well.”

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Deacon Tom Kasbohm talks with his great-grandchildren Kierra, left, and Kerry Simpson. my life; I was an altar boy, involved in DeLaSalle’s Catholic Action youth group, active in parish life teaching Sunday school, helping to find adoptive homes for orphaned children in Europe and other things, but I wanted to do more,” he said.

“When I read the diaconate pamphlet, I felt this was the direction I was meant to go in, but I told Capt. O’Connor that I did not meet the requirements, as it said you have to be in perfect health, and I am in a Navy hospital with a diagnosis of MS,” he said. “He placed his fingers firmly on my nose and said, ‘You let God decide that.’”

With the support and encouragement of his wife, Deacon Kasbohm followed his calling at age 36, joining the inaugural permanent deacon class of 10 men at St. John’s Seminary. The program, developed by St. John’s University faculty and Benedictine monks, consisted of summer courses in Scripture, pastoral counseling, Church theology and preaching, with ongoing communication and support from priest mentors.

Deacon Kasbohm completed his diaconate training at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois.

Following his ordination in 1972, he served in Chicago before returning to the Twin Cities, where his ministry included assignments at Nativity of Mary in Bloomington; St. Thomas the Apostle, Resurrection (merged with St. Kevin in 1991 and renamed Our Lady of Peace) and the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis; and Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville.

He recalls that at the start, there was confusion about what the deacon role was and a lack of acceptance by some.

“I wanted to ensure that anything I did reflected positively on the Church, and would contribute to the future success of this role,” he said. “I trusted that God was in control, not me, and if this was his will, I just had to do my part and it would all work out for the good.”

Deacon Kasbohm served in a variety of

parish roles. “Each parish had a different need,” he said. “It could be doing baptisms, funerals, marriages, homilies, bringing sacraments to people, being the faith formation coordinator, teaching at the parish school or serving as marriage preparation coordinator — at the Basilica we had 150 marriages a year.”

Deacon Joe Schramer, 87, of Apple Valley, served with Deacon Kasbohm at Mary, Mother of the Church in the early 1990s. “Tom seemed to be involved in just about everything there, including a ministry of reaching out to Hmong refugees to help them get settled,”

Deacon Kasbohm lived at St. Therese, a senior living and care facility, from 2014 until he needed treatment at a hospital in late August. He has been rehabilitating since early September at the home of his daughter, Terri Kasbohm, 65, in Brooklyn Center. A member of St. Joan of Arc in Minneapolis, Terri Kasbohm has shared the online Mass from that parish with her father. His family has expanded to include 25 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

“Growing up, Dad was always bigger than life, and as a deacon, very deeply rooted in values that are timeless, about helping people,” Terri Kasbohm said. “I was very enchanted and quite deeply touched with Dad’s faith and felt it myself, and he would extend God’s love in a human way.”

Terri Kasbohm’s daughter and her family are also living in her home, making a houseful of four generations, all under one roof. Deacon Kasbohm serves in his role as the spiritual leader.

“Watching Dad teach his great-grandchildren about their faith is absolutely a gift for us,” said Terri Kasbohm. “Just an unbelievable gift.”

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20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER TOM MARGEVICIUS

The sheep and the goats To be “woke” is now a thing. Over the past few years the media have employed this awkward grammatical construction — a simple past tense of the verb “to wake,” but used as an adjective — to describe being aware of one’s own biases, intending on overcoming them and advocating for societal change. Racism is a timely example: Someone who is woke admits his racial biases (they may even be unconscious) and aspires to be part of the solution.

At the beginning of the Third Millennium, Pope St. John Paul II led a reconciliation service in the Vatican during which he asked forgiveness for the ways the Church has sinned over her 2,000-year history. Following his example, our own archdiocese will sponsor a prayer service Dec. 2 asking forgiveness for the sin of racism. We are trying to become more woke, to change our fundamental attitude.

But being woke is not enough. It has to be accompanied by action. This is the simple yet obvious conclusion to today’s Gospel. While it would be informative to study the cultural and social differences in biblical times separating sheep and goats, we don’t need that to grasp the main point: One group did charitable actions, the other did not, and they were judged accordingly.

Here’s the unexpected part: Neither group was “woke.” When the divine King addresses both the sheep and the goats, telling

FAITH FUNDAMENTALS | FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN

The symbols of confirmation

The sacrament of confirmation is represented by a rich array of symbols developed over the centuries, and they help to reveal its meaning and add to its beauty.

Oil. Oil is the essential element of the ritual.

It is a distinctive kind of oil — sacred chrism, olive oil lightly perfumed with balsam to give it a sweet-smelling aroma. The oil is blessed by the bishop each year at the chrism Mass. It imparts the gift of the Holy Spirit, seals the recipient in God’s grace, and gives a new, indelible character. The minister dips his right thumb into a small bowl of sacred chrism, raises his oiled thumb, places it on the forehead of the candidate, and with a stroke down and a stroke across, anoints the forehead in the shape of a cross with the words, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The laying on of hands. The laying of hands on the head has represented the conferral of the Holy Spirit from the first generation of the Church. The apostles laid hands on Stephen and six others (Acts 6:6), Peter and John laid hands upon believers in Samaria (Acts 8:17), Ananias laid hands on Paul in Damascus (Acts 9:17), Paul laid hands on disciples in Ephesus (Acts 19:6), and all received the gift of the Holy Spirit. The ritual no longer has a

the former that they fed and clothed and welcomed him while the latter did not, both reply with the same question: “Lord, when did we see you thus?” Neither seems to be aware interiorly of their deep motives. They just acted differently.

Societal sins such as racism, sexism and xenophobia are vague and elusive, and for that reason difficult to identify, much less overcome. Feelings are deep-seated, often conflicted, and some may be beyond our ability to make “woke.” What we can more easily change is our behavior. Whatever I feel when I see persons asking handouts at the freeway ramp, what I do matters more, at least as far as the Gospel is concerned. I can treat them with respect, courtesy and the dignity that is theirs because they too are Jesus’ representatives. “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers or sisters, you do to me.”

Further, changing our behavior, over time, gradually changes our attitude. The more charity we do, the more woke we become.

Mother Teresa of Kolkata was famous for being able to see Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor, but she did not attain that awareness overnight. It took years of continuing to care for them until God gradually opened her eyes, and she saw it was literally true: She was caring for them not “as if” they were Jesus, but because they are Jesus, in whatever disguise it pleased him to assume.

Changing hundreds of years of deep-seated feelings and attitudes does not come quickly, but we don’t have to wait to be fully woke before we act. Giving a cup of cold water to one of Jesus’ little ones because he or she is a disciple (cf. Matt. 10:42) may be simple, but it promises eternal rewards.

Father Margevicius is director of worship for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

laying on of hands upon each individual confirmand, but rather the bishop, along with any concelebrating priests, extends his hands over all those to be confirmed and offers a blessing prayer to bestow the Holy Spirit.

Dove. A dove is a symbol of the sacrament of confirmation because it represents the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove when he was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist (Mt 3:16; Mk 1:10; Lk 3:22), and the Holy Spirit descends upon each person who is confirmed.

A flame or a tongue of fire. When the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles on Pentecost, “tongues as of fire parted and came to rest upon each of them” (Acts 2:3). Similarly, tongues as of fire come to rest over the head of every confirmand.

A lamp. A lamp emits light, and light is a symbol of the enlightenment, inspiration, insight and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

Mitre and staff. The mitre is the liturgical headwear worn by a bishop. It is round and tall with a pointed top on the front and back, as well as two tassels on the back called tappets. The staff is also called a pastoral staff, shepherd’s staff, crosier or crozier. It is the walking stick used by a shepherd, and the bishop is the chief shepherd of the diocese (see Jn 20:15, 16, 17). The symbols of bishop double as the symbols of confirmation because the bishop is the usual minister.

7 and 9. The numbers seven and nine represent the number of gifts (Is 11:2) and fruits (Gal 5:22-23) of the Holy Spirit, and it is common to display other symbols in groups of seven or nine, frequently flames, lamps, the branches of a candelabra or the points on a crown.

Father Van Sloun is pastor of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata. This column is part of an ongoing series on confirmation.

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DAILY Scriptures Sunday, Nov. 22 Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe Ez 34:11-12, 15-17 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28 Mt 25:31-46 Monday, Nov. 23 Rv 14:1-3, 4b-5 Lk 21:1-4 Tuesday, Nov. 24 St. Andrew Dung-Lac, priest, and companions, martyrs Rv 14:14-19 Lk 21:5-11 Wednesday, Nov. 25 Rv 15:1-4 Lk 21:12-19 Thursday, Nov. 26 Thanksgiving Day Sir 50:22-24 1 Cor 1:3-9 Lk 17:11-19 Friday, Nov. 27 Rv 20:1-4, 11–21:2 Lk 21:29-33 Saturday, Nov. 28 Rv 22:1-7 Lk 21:34-36 Sunday, Nov. 29 First Sunday of Advent Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7 1 Cor 1:3-9 Mk 13:33-37 Monday, Nov. 30 St. Andrew, apostle Rom 10:9-18 Mt 4:18-22 Tuesday, Dec. 1 Is 11:1-10 Lk 10:21-24 Wednesday, Dec. 2 Is 25:6-10a Mt 15:29-37 Thursday, Dec. 3 St. Francis Xavier, priest Is 26:1-6 Mt 7:21, 24-27 Friday, Dec. 4 Is 29:17-24 Mt 9:27-31 Saturday, Dec. 5 Is 30:19-21, 23-26 Mt 9:35–10:1, 5a, 6-8 Sunday, Dec. 6 Second Sunday of Advent Is 40:1-5, 9-11 2 Pt 3:8-14 Mk 1:1-8

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 21

COMMENTARY THE LOCAL CHURCH | ANNE KLEJMENT

CELEBRATING A LEGACY

Dorothy Day’s spirituality in the COVID era Forty years after her death on Nov. 29, 1980, does the spirituality of Servant of God Dorothy Day offer COVID-era Christians assistance through a lengthy rough patch?

Absolutely! Throughout her adult life as a Catholic, Day faced a variety of crises.

Conversion to Catholicism meant separating from the father of her child, who refused to marry, and finding a vocation that affirmed her faith and her desire to promote social justice. As leader of the Catholic Worker and editor of its paper, she faced daily crises involving unpaid bills, infestations, unruly guests and insubordinate coworkers, not to speak of racism and crafting a Catholic position of nonviolence, including during times of war. In meeting these challenges, she developed a resiliency rooted in her spiritual practices.

Today, the world seems to spin out of control.

COVID-19, climate change, economic uncertainty, racism, political polarization and social confinement overwhelm us. Yet, in our socially distanced existence, we can adopt Day’s spiritual practices to deepen our faith, hope and charity, exactly what is needed to address what we find hardest to face.

The foundation of Dorothy Day’s spirituality included daily prayer and daily Mass with reception of Communion to become a follower of Christ.

Day’s prayer included contemplation, praise and thanksgiving, as well as frequent prayers of petition.

As we grow impatient with restrictions on social interaction, we recognize that we can engage in prayer anytime and anywhere. A click of a button allows participation in online or television Mass with spiritual Communion, even if in-person attendance is unwise.

To nourish our relationship with God, we can treasure

CATHOLIC WATCHMEN | DEACON GORDON BIRD

What did Jesus — and St. Joseph — do?

The WWJD movement in the 1990s rekindled a century-old fire popularized by a Charles Sheldon book titled, “In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do?” Through Catholic, Protestant and secular circles, the slogan, and furthermore, the original book, has its supporters and critics regarding its social and moral purpose — and the context. Even so, this sentiment can be summarized as an admonition to make decisions and live one’s life in the same way that Jesus Christ would.

What resonates with me, however, regarding the dawning and donning of the trendy bracelet at the time, was when a priest friend of mine during a homily commented, “Isn’t it really, ‘What did Jesus do?’” In Christian theology, imitating our Lord is the practice of following his example. To go by what he did do, so we do not speculate on what he would do.

The priest’s comment was not designed to market a new brand of bracelets, but to focus on the doctrine taught by Christ. That includes listening to and acting upon his teachings revealed in sacred Scripture and supported by the sacred workings of tradition (with a big “T”). We can learn how the four Gospels were

A celebration of Dorothy Day’s legacy will be held online from 5–6:30 p.m. Nov. 29 by the Dorothy Day Guild of the Archdiocese of New York. It will feature New York Times political and cultural commentator David Brooks and his wife, Anne Snyder, editor-in-chief of public theology magazine Comment, and Paul Elie, senior fellow with Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs in Washington D.C. For more information and to register, go to dorothydayguild.org.

CNS

Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement and its newspaper, The Catholic Worker, is depicted in a stainedglass window at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in the Staten Island borough of New York. reading of Scripture as Day did, understanding that it is the word of God. Day reflected constantly on the implications of Jesus’ teaching of the two greatest commandments: love of God and love of neighbor. In prayer she expressed her love for God and nourished it in wide-ranging spiritual reading. Love of neighbor demanded a radical inclusivity. Each human being was created in the image of God. And, borrowing from St. Augustine, Day understood the Mystical Body of Christ to include not only Catholics, but potentially everyone. Everyone because St. Augustine included non-Christians as “potential” members of the Mystical Body of Christ.

From Day’s perspective, the unlimited power of God’s gift of grace made every human being a potential member of the Mystical Body. Grace makes possible even the most unlikely of conversions.

For us, thoughtful consideration of Scripture or participation in online Bible study or the reading of popular works on Scripture might challenge us to reexamine God’s nature and people and groups who are unlike ourselves racially, ethnically, socially or politically. How might I learn more about their experiences and their views? How might I reach out to the other in a respectful and loving way? How might

exemplified by his true followers in the Acts of the Apostles, the Pauline letters, and all the books of the New Testament for that matter. Their witness to what Jesus did is signified by remarkable stories of courage as they spread the faith to the whole world as they knew it.

Flashback to earlier times in the first century, and we have yet another example to emulate, that of a man who helped pave the rugged way for our Lord and his Blessed Mother. We learn largely from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke how St. Joseph led the Holy Family literally, by following his dreams.

Divine, angelic-driven dreams though they were, the narratives speak to his great prudence, courage, obedience and faith.

What did St. Joseph do? To learn this, several Catholic Watchmen participated in a Consecration to St. Joseph, depending on a guidebook and preparing 33 to 44 days prior to a selected feast day. There are worthy books and vehicles that can help us see through the lens of this holy man. Because we are observing a Year of St. Joseph beginning Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and since a consecration is now underway in our own archdiocese (see details at archspm.org, search for Consecration to St. Joseph) to that feast day, it would be prudent to flip through our Bibles to engage with the spiritual and physical leadership of St. Joseph.

In sacred Scripture, we learn that, with Mary, Joseph accepted Jesus as his own. Via a series of significant angelic dreams, he followed the mysterious paths of God’s mysterious ways. A lot of moving around initially: in haste, in suspense, in joy, in sorrow, in unfamiliar territory. Joseph eventually settled his family in the community of Nazareth, making a living as a carpenter, as a father teaching his son his trade. He was a devout, righteous man leading his Jewish family — the

I address the needs of those I rarely encounter in my daily life?

Day regarded the works of mercy, corporal and spiritual, as essential practices. Some of us might volunteer at a hospice or food shelf. Others might donate to trusted organizations that provide for the needy. We could write to a shut-in or a prisoner.

Studying the history of immigration and refugee policy and the reasons people seek asylum in the United States might encourage support for new policies or accompanying individuals as their cases are processed by authorities. Joining a discussion on racism might suggest ways to lose biases.

Only a few of Day’s spiritual practices were included in this article. Those wishing to learn more about her life and work can read her books, all of which have been reprinted. Here are two favorites. “The Long Loneliness” (1952) explains the events and people leading her to God. “House of Hospitality” (1938) relates the excitement and challenges in starting the Catholic Worker movement and its houses of hospitality, besides sharing stories of prayers answered.

The Dorothy Day Guild of the Archdiocese of New York has been assembling documentation of Day’s spirituality to send to Rome as one of the requirements to advance her cause for canonization. Information about Day and the canonization process can be accessed at dorothydayguild.org.

Klejment is professor emerita of history at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, specializing in the history of American Catholicism and the life of Dorothy Day. The Local Church is an occasional column featuring local voices. original domestic church. Certainly, he had a unique responsibility of blending a family — with natural and supernatural characteristics — into ordinary living. It’s a mystery, not because it is unbelievable, but due to the goodness, beauty and truth that play a key role as part of the story of salvation for humankind.

Joseph — albeit silent in the Scriptures — is an active, fatherly example for us to follow, as a material provider, physical protector and spiritual leader of the family. Body and spirit must integrate and embrace the will of God. Joseph teaches — along with the Blessed Mother — the virtues of sacrifice, obedience, humility.

In raising God’s only begotten Son, both Jesus’ mother and his foster father epitomized God’s design of complementarity.

Please encourage others in groups — small to large — to earmark and devote a period throughout the next 12 months to a consecration to St. Joseph. He is the patron saint of the Catholic Watchmen movement, and we are celebrating the 150th anniversary since he was given the title Patron of the Universal Church. Along with Mary, St. Joseph takes pride of place as our intercessor as we pray to Jesus at each fraternal gathering: “May I faithfully fulfill my duty to protect those entrusted to me both physically and spiritually. Like St. Joseph, may I humbly fulfill the duties that have been placed upon me as a man of God.” All for Jesus, all for Mary, all for Joseph. May we continually learn and do what they did.

Deacon Bird ministers at St. Joseph in Rosemount, All Saints in Lakeville and assists the archdiocese’s Catholic Watchmen movement. Reach him at gordonbird@ rocketmail.com. Learn about the Catholic Watchmen at archspm.org/faith-communities/men or at facebook.com/thecatholicwatchmen.

COMMENTARY

22 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

YOUR HEART, HIS HOME | LIZ KELLY

Claim your name

Over the past few months, I have been leading about 40 women from all around the country through a prayer practicum online. It’s a teaching model for learning to pray with Scripture based on Ignatian spirituality developed by Jesuit Father John Wickham. It has been an especially anointed endeavor witnessing these women as daily they claim God’s Word for themselves and as God’s Word claims and forms them, strengthening their identity in Christ.

As we wrapped up the 16-week commitment, I asked women to pray about their “name of grace,” that is the name they have in God. Some spiritual directors use the term “personal vocation,” asking, who am I in Jesus, and who is he to me? Your “name of grace” is often tied up with your life’s personal vocation, the intimate work that Jesus has given to you to build up his kingdom.

Frequently, our favorite name for the Lord is a reflection of his name for us.

Some of the names that were shared in our final

GUEST COMMENTARY | GREG ERLANDSON

Where we go from here

“I think it’s a great opportunity.”

I was bemoaning the state of a country divided almost down the middle. The election that so many people thought was for the soul of the country or for its future instead revealed that we are divided almost 50-50. The priest I was talking with agreed. And then he said, “I think it’s a great opportunity.”

“Wait, what?” I responded. “We’ve got red versus blue, coasts versus heartland, rural versus urban. It looks like we’ll have a divided Congress, a distrustful electorate, resentful losers and frustrated winners.

Where’s the great opportunity?”

“We are going to have to work together,” he said. “We don’t have a choice.”

Lord knows, we’ve tried everything else. We’ve tried to thwart each other, taunt each other, libel each other, dismiss each other. We’ve rejected each other’s news

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

meeting were “Light,” “Graciousness,” “Recoverer,” “Holy One,” “Blessed is She,” “Bringer of Joy and Laughter,” “Threshing Sledge,” “Mother-Heart-of-theChurch,” “Pearl of Great Price” and “Beloved.” These beautiful titles were revealing the core of each woman’s work in the kingdom and her identity in Christ, celebrating in such an imaginative way how heaven must relish the great diversity in the body of Christ.

One woman’s name of grace was especially satisfying to hear. This woman struggled mightily with anxiety and fear, especially over attacks against the Church. She has been gravely tempted to fall into despair, but she kept on with her prayer commitment. She kept her eyes on the Lord.

Then, this morning, after remaining faithful to her prayer for more than 16 weeks, she sent me a text giving thanks for the practicum, which helped her to move, she says, from “worrier to warrior!” That’s exactly what grace does — it perfects attributes in us that the world might like to distort or maim. Grace took her fear and anxiety and refined it into a holy vigilance and a love of justice. Grace is teaching her not to settle for worry, but to give her fear to Jesus so he can transform it — and her — into a weapon that can crush the powers of spiritual darkness.

How do we navigate amid allegations of voter fraud, confusion in the Church over “civil unions” and a COVID resurgence? The very ground beneath us seems

to quake. More than ever, we need to know what work God is calling us to in our daily lives and pour ourselves into it with greater clarity and dedication.

The Lord came to Solomon in the night to declare, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chr 7:14). Do you believe it?

What is the name given to you by heaven? What grace will be unleashed in you if you know who you are in Christ? Together, in humility and prayer, let’s seek his face — in the poor, in the marginalized, in the vulnerable, in those who cannot speak for themselves, in the lonely, the sick, the imprisoned, the homeless and hungry, and yes, even in the face of those who persecute us. The promise of forgiveness and healing is real, dangling over us like luscious ripe fruit on a low limb.

Almighty Father, you have named us and claimed us as your own. Show us the best path forward to release the most grace possible on a world in darkness and confusion. Send your clarifying light into our hearts and homes, that we may stand steadfast in your truth, compromising not one hair of our head to the enemy.

Your word will never fail. Amen.

sources, each other’s values, each other’s leaders. We’ve delegitimized each other. We fantasize about secession or emigration. We hate each other.

How’s that been working out for us?

We’re going to have to work together. As the saying goes, America can always be counted on to do the right thing … once it has exhausted all the other alternatives.

I say we look pretty exhausted now.

My friend thought the Church could really be of help here. We have our divisions, too. They’ve been worse than usual recently. Yet what binds us together is that our unity is based on something beyond us, on the person of Christ.

We kneel in the same pews. We share the same Eucharist. We pray the same prayers. Our unity is based on something, on someone, so much bigger than we are. And the lessons that the Church teaches — humility, prayer, encounter, service — are the lessons that contribute to our unity.

Right now, we can’t fix everything that is broken in this country. But we Catholics can show a way forward.

It starts with humility, with the admission that we are not infallible. That we are not little gods. That we may not know everything. It is the recognition of our own fallen nature.

This leads us to prayer. And we learn the hard lesson of praying for others, for those we don’t like, for the leaders we disagree with, for the family members who support those leaders. To genuinely pray for them is

hard. I know. It is hard for me.

Even harder is that we have to find a way to encounter the other apart from the red and the blue, apart from FOX and MSNBC, apart from the ideological biases we have.

For our nation to work, we need to get beyond the stereotypes and meet the people we don’t know, don’t trust, don’t respect. We need to talk like neighbors. We need to find those shared values that are there, even if expressed in very different ways.

And finally, we need to serve. We need to work together. Forget Congress. That may come later. Start in our communities, our parishes. Find out where the needs are, then find people who aren’t like us and figure out a way to meet those needs together. Start local, my friend said. Start small.

This could be the hidden blessing of the coronavirus right now. There is so much need, so many people hurting, homeless, hungry, sick. God has given us a need so obvious we can’t miss it.

In this season of thankfulness and gratitude we are now entering, maybe we can give thanks for what we have in common, for what we share. And we can resolve to do something more than complain.

It’s a great opportunity.

Kelly is the award-winning author of nine books.

Erlandson, director and editor-in-chief of Catholic News Service, can be reached at gerlandson@catholicnews.com.

LETTERS MCCL defends endorsement A Nov. 5 article on the Catholic Spirit website (“Peterson’s loss shrinks number of pro-life Democrats in House”) quotes Kirsten Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America, suggesting that Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) and National Right to Life made false criticisms of outgoing Minnesota Congressman Collin Peterson’s record on abortion. Day is off the mark. MCCL’s Federal PAC (which Scott Fischbach, executive director of MCCL, is not involved with) endorsed Peterson’s opponent, Michelle Fischbach, for a couple reasons. First, although MCCL had endorsed Peterson in the past, we didn’t in 2018, and by 2020 Peterson’s pro-life voting record had become more and more concerning. For just the calendar year 2019, Peterson’s pro-life score fell to 50%, according to National Right to Life’s scorecard.

That included, among other troubling

votes, a vote for an appropriations bill that would have overturned an existing pro-life policy against funding groups that perform or promote abortion around the world. Second, in the 2020 election, Peterson faced a strong and viable challenger with a proven track record of pro-life leadership in the Minnesota Legislature. Michelle Fischbach put together a 100% lifetime pro-life voting record while taking the lead on numerous pro-life bills, including lifesaving measures that became law, such as Minnesota’s Woman’s Right to Know and Positive Alternatives laws.

That’s why it’s no surprise that the major pro-life groups endorsed Fischbach — not just MCCL and National Right to Life, but Susan B. Anthony List and Family Research Council Action as well.

MCCL is not a partisan organization. We continue to endorse pro-life Democrats as well as pro-life Republicans (our State PAC endorsed several pro-life Democrats this year). But in the race between Collin

Peterson and Michelle Fischbach, the choice for pro-life voters was clear.

as the profound Good Samaritan story demonstrates.

Paul Stark, communications director Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, Minneapolis

MaryAnn de Ruiter Ascension, Minneapolis

Taking encyclical to heart

Honoring aborted babies

Thank you for publishing about Pope Francis’ latest encyclical, “Fratelli tutti”!

I’m glad it made the front page (“Belief in God as creator of all has practical consequences, pope says,” Oct. 9)! It would have been powerful had it been printed in its entirety! I wonder the impact in our archdiocese on upcoming elections, on addressing racial injustices, and on our divided communities if we individually and collectively took an honest look at our neighbor both in the geographic sense and spiritual sense! It’s good to have a clear reminder of the importance of human love and relating to our neighbor/s despite the inconvenient, uncomfortable and often messy ways that true encounters occur,

Four score and eight years ago, my earthly journey began. My letters to honor God’s preborn children are selfserving. Upon my passing, I hope my escort to the throne will be a multitude of the 60 million mutilated martyred unborn, baptized in blood, angelic cherubs.

Everett C. Dehmer Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Paul Share your perspective by emailing TheCatholicSpirit@archspm.org. Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number.

The Commentary pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit.

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 23

CALENDAR FOOD+FESTIVALS Farmington KC’s Turkey bingo — Nov. 21: 2–4:30 p.m. at St. Michael, 221210 Denmark Ave., Farmington. Knights of Columbus Council 2400. Face coverings, social distancing. $15 per person for a packet of 15 games. Register at tinyurl.com/yyrfjz53.

Quilters for a Cause Holiday Sale — Nov. 21: 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. at St. Jerome, 380 E. Roselawn Ave., Maplewood. Kitchen and baby items, table runners and pillow cases. Proceeds to the group’s charitable work. Face coverings, social distancing.

Christ Child Luncheon Drive-Thru — Dec. 4: 2–6 p.m. at St. Ignatius, 35 Birch St. E., Annandale.

Freewill offering. Proceeds to pro-life organizations.

Call 320-274-8074 to pre-order by Nov. 30.

St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Bazaar — Dec. 5: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Education Center, 9100 93rd Ave. N., Brooklyn Park. The SVDP Council of Catholic Women will be hosting a COVID-19 compliant Christmas Bazaar with over 45 crafters, Taste of Heaven Bakery, raffle and a soup and sandwich lunch. Facemasks and social distancing required. saintvdp.org/christmas-bazaar Christmas at the Monastery — Dec. 7-13: Sisters of St. Benedict of St. Paul’s Monastery in Maplewood hosting weeklong online shopping that raises funds for the religious community and its ministries, including an online silent auction 2–4:30 p.m. Dec. 12 with a 3–4 p.m. social hour. stpaulsmonastery.org/christmas

PRAYER DAY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 Father Joncas described his proposal in a letter to Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who responded favorably. Father Joncas and Father Margevicius developed the idea over time with Adam Fitzpatrick, social mission outreach coordinator at the archdiocese’s Center for Mission, and Father Erich Rutten, pastor of St. Peter Claver in St. Paul. The result is a day of prayer and fasting in the archdiocese against the sin of racism set for Dec. 2.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens will preside at 7:30 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. He will pray

Knights of Columbus bingo — Wednesdays: 6–9 p.m. at Solanus Casey Council Hall, 1910 S. Greeley St., Stillwater.

Chaotic Times. Presenter: Franciscan Father Matthew Malek. franciscanretreats.net/serenity-retreats

PRAYER+RETREATS Individual and archdiocesan consecration to St. Joseph — Nov. 6-Dec. 8: Thirty-three days of preparation for Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s consecration of the archdiocese to St. Joseph at 7 p.m. Dec. 8 at Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. Begins a Year of St. Joseph. COVID-19 protocols. Event will be livestreamed. archspm.org/synod/stjoseph Walking the Sacred Path — Nov. 19: 7–8 p.m.

Free virtual retreat with Dan Schutte hosted by St. Joseph in New Hope. Online materials included. stjosephparish.com/retreat Archdiocesan Day of Prayer and Fasting Against the Sin of Racism — Dec 2: 7:30 a.m. Mass at Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul.

7 p.m. prayer service at the Cathedral or virtually at facebook.com/cathedralsaintpaul.

Retrouvaille marriage help — Dec. 4-6: Best Western Dakota Ridge Hotel, 3450 Washington Dr., Eagan. Help for struggling marriages. helpourmarriage.org Serenity retreat — Dec. 4-6 at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. Men and women in recovery from addictions.

Theme for 2020: Keeping the Promises of AA Alive in

from the Roman Missal, “Mass for the Preservation of Peace and Justice.”

Archbishop Hebda will later lead a 7 p.m. prayer service at the Cathedral.

Participants can attend in person, following COVID-19 precautions, or via the Cathedral’s Facebook page, facebook. com/cathedralsaintpaul.

There will be Scripture readings and people will be invited to pray for forgiveness for seven categories of sin, including personal racial prejudice, racial prejudice within the Church, and actions against love, peace, the rights of peoples, and respect for cultures and religions.

CALENDAR submissions DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the next issue date.

Ignatian men’s silent retreat — ThursdaySunday most weeks at Demontreville Jesuit Retreat House, 8243 Demontreville Trail N., Lake Elmo.

Freewill donation. demontrevilleretreat.com

ONGOING GROUPS

LISTINGS: Accepted are brief no­tices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations.

If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission. Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community.

Calix Society — First and third Sundays: 9–10:30 a.m. at Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. Potluck breakfast, family and friends supporting spiritual needs of recovering Catholic alcoholics. Call Kathy at 651-330-3387. calixsociety.org.

Order Franciscans Secular — Third Sundays: 1 p.m. at Catholic Charities, 1200 Second Ave. S., Minneapolis. Lay Catholic men and women.

952-922-5523

ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication: uTime and date of event

Job transitions and networking group — Tuesdays: 7–8:30 a.m. at St. Joseph the Worker, 7180 Hemlock Lane, Maple Grove. Email Bob at bob.sjtw@gmail.com. sjtw.net/job-transition-networking-

uFull street address of event uDescription of event uContact information in case of questions

group

Natural Family Planning (NFP) classes — ongoing. Church-approved methods to achieve or postpone pregnancy. List of classes at archspm.org/family or call 651-291-4489.

Restorative justice groups — Monthly: 6:30–8 p.m. via Zoom. Open to all victim-survivors.

First Mondays for those sexually abused by clergy as adults. Second Tuesdays for relatives and friends of Pope St. John Paul II’s prayer at the time of the millennium, sometimes called a litany of forgiveness on behalf of the Church for its sins, inspired the categories of prayer, said Father Joncas, an artist in residence at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul and research fellow there in Catholic Studies. “He did a wonderful litany of things that the Catholic Church was repenting of,” he said.

Father Joncas said he hopes that people experiencing the prayer will think about the racial divisions in the U.S. and in the world, and commit as good Catholics to trying to overcome

ONLINE: T HECATHOLICSPIRIT.COM/ CALENDARSUBMISSIONS

clergy abuse victims. Third Mondays, victim-survivor support group. Third Wednesdays, survivor peace circle. Fourth Wednesdays, support group for men sexually abused by clergy or religious. Learn more at archspm.org/healing or call Paula Kaempffer at 651-291-4429. that sin. “It’s not a substitute for social action or activity, but it’s certainly a good grounding for it,” he said.

All Catholics in the archdiocese are invited to participate. Invitations are being sent to priests and parishes.

Catholic schools in the archdiocese are encouraged to have students observe it at school in some way, and institutions can determine the best way to recognize the day in their own settings, Father Margevicius said.

“If there’s enough groundswell (among individuals and parishes) … then it may well develop into a blossoming of multiple efforts,” he said.

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24 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

THELASTWORD

Grateful (socially dis tanced) hearts I think there will be more conversations, especially at the dinner table, about ‘Look at what we have. Even if this has been taken away, look at what we do have.’

Christina Crow

iSTOCK PHOTO | RAWPIXEL

Making Thanksgiving meaningful during a pandemic

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit arah McCauley, her husband and their two children normally divide Thanksgiving weekend between two large family gatherings in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but because of COVID-19, this year’s celebrations will likely be virtual.

“It can’t happen this year and we’re sad,” said McCauley, a licensed associate marriage and family therapist at Clearwater Counseling in Woodbury.

Like much of 2020, the pandemic is bringing uncertainty and even grief to Thanksgiving social gatherings. Hoping to slow down fast-rising numbers of people contracting the novel coronavirus in this kind of setting, Gov. Tim Walz decided Nov. 10 to limit social get-togethers to 10 people from no more than three households. Walz and state public health officials revised that advice Nov. 16, urging people not to gather for Thanksgiving outside their immediate household and asking college students to reconsider going home for the holiday.

Many might wonder what they can be thankful for this Thanksgiving, given the tumult of 2020 and COVID-19-related restrictions and loss. But McCauley and others suggest that there are new opportunities for gratitude and loving others while embracing — and simplifying — traditions. As people follow safety guidelines and seek ways to connect with loved ones, one priest said everyone can take comfort in the fact that God’s love hasn’t changed.

McCauley’s family plans to share meals, games, prayers and pictures on social media with relatives, heeding warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that travel increases the chance of contracting and spreading the virus. Still, she grieves not spending meaningful, in-person time with loved ones.

A big part of working through grief and finding gratitude is honoring the fact that this isn’t a normal

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THANKSGIVING GUIDELINES Advice in a time of COVID-19 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can be found at tinyurl.com/y5372ogv. year, said McCauley, a parishioner of Transfiguration in Oakdale. Grief might accompany uncertainty this holiday season, and Catholics should give themselves permission to say, “I don’t know,” she said.

God hasn’t abandoned his people, said Father Ben Little, pastor of St. John the Baptist in Savage. People can reflect on ways God remains generous, including through the gifts of life and of his Son. “God wants to be with us in these ways that we’re feeling deprived,” Father Little said.

Christina Crow is encouraging her four children to be thankful for their faith, country and health.

“I think there will be more conversations, especially at the dinner table, about ‘Look at what we have.

Even if this has been taken away, look at what we do have,’” said Crow, sacramental coordinator at the University of St. Thomas and a parishioner of Nativity of Our Lord, both in St. Paul.

Throughout the holiday, Crow said, her family writes down what they’re thankful for on a large piece of paper.

One blessing of smaller gatherings is greater intimacy and deeper conversation, Crow said.

A smaller group also could order dinner from a restaurant that might be struggling to make ends meet because of COVID-19, she said.

It may be a good time to simplify, she added.

“This year if you did brownies instead of pie it would be OK,” she said. “The spirit of Thanksgiving is not only in the food, it’s in what Thanksgiving is. It’s in the people.”

For Crow and her family, attending Thanksgiving Mass is a meaningful tradition because the word “Eucharist” means thanksgiving.

Along with Mass, Father Little recommended praying praise-related psalms such as 7, 34, 92 and 103. He suggested reading letters that St. Paul wrote while imprisoned: Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon.

This is a good year for families to educate young children about stories behind the Thanksgiving holiday, McCauley said. “It was seeking joy and

connection in a time of great suffering,” she said of the first Thanksgiving, adding that recounting the story is “also a great opportunity to educate on marginalized groups.”

Families that can’t gather can connect in other ways, said Father Little, who spent almost a month under COVID-19 quarantine this fall, first after testing positive for the virus and later when his associate pastor did. He missed parishioners and staff, but he was blessed by their emails and letters, though he never developed COVID-19 symptoms.

Catholics can express prayers or intentions for those who can’t be with them, McCauley said.

Crow’s family plans to have a “window visit” with elderly loved ones at a care facility, call them and mail the children’s hand-shaped paper turkeys.

Texting or emailing photos also offers a sense of being there, along with playing games together online, she said.

The CDC suggests that households share recipes and dishes they make via Zoom or another video platform, or deliver a traditional meal to separated loved ones in a non-contact way.

Also challenging family unity is the presidential election, Catholics acknowledged.

“I think it requires us to recognize that there are a lot of big feelings and pent emotion tied to every side of the political spectrum regardless of where people align,” McCauley said.

If family members don’t share their faith, Catholics can connect with them about shared pandemic suffering without explicitly telling them they need God, Father Little said.

Catholics and non-Catholics can find comfort in knowing everyone is experiencing disruption and loss together. They also can help people in need by donating time, food, money or clothing, McCauley said.

Like the stresses of wars and the Great Depression, the pandemic will change people, and there will be a filtering out to what matters most, Crow said.

Catholics should be easier on themselves in this difficult year, she said.

“Take care of yourself in that way,” she said.

“Thanksgiving will still come, even if you don’t have stuffing this year.”